


Diamond Edge

by y_oona



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: A touch of jisol, Bounty Hunter!au, M/M, Minor Violence, a sprinkle of Junhao, but not really angst, just think of this as a slow-burn slight fluffy fic filled with badasses, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-02-18 18:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 73,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13105566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/y_oona/pseuds/y_oona
Summary: Everyone has their reasons for ending up where they are. Seungcheol is no exception. So when he's recruited to work for a new contractor, he has his doubts. Especially when one the top bounty hunters hate him with a burning passion.





	1. Recruitment

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic on here!  
> Just imagine Seventeen acting like high schoolers, but with the twist that instead of school work, they're assigned to hunt people down with cool Bounty Hunter names.

"What the hell..." the man stepped around the bodies scattered on the floor. Biting his lip, he spun his gun around his index finger, upset that someone had beat him to his kill.

  
"Talk to me Coups," a voice rang inside his earpiece. 

  
"Someone beat me to Lenetti..." He nudged a lifeless body, trying to get some sort of response, but was left disappointed. This was most definitely new to him.

"What? That's impossible. You've been on his tail for a week." Typing was heard through the small speaker. 

"You think I don't know that Woozi?" He wanted to add on but the man froze when he saw a body tied to a chair, in the dead center of the scene. It was the only area where the light from to moon seeped into the warehouse. His head lolled to the side, but luckily for S.Coups, he was still breathing. Yanking the guy's head to get a good look at him, he began his interrogation, " Hey, what the hell happened here?"

"H-he..." his breath was shallow, "he killed them."

"He? Who's he?"

"He... he was..." the man mumbled, slipping out of consciousness.

"Hey, stay with me," he slapped his cheeks a bit, "He was what? You gotta give me something if you wanna stay alive.”

"He- he was gorgeous..." the hostage scrunched his face, "He was like... an Angel."

"Ooohh… no…" Not liking the sound of the other line’s whisper, S.Coups released the grip he had on the man’s hair he pressed the earpiece.

"What do you mean oh no?"

Choi Seungcheol was never one to get annoyed easily, but walking into a warehouse, fully expecting to get a job done, with only one man alive who was spouting nonsense about some angel-

Wait.

Seungcheol racked his brain. Although a different setting, he’s heard of The Angel. The Angel of death; the one who brings death wherever he goes. Dressed in white, he kills all but one, the one he lets live say he’s too beautiful, too generous, too terrifying.

"I think... I think we should grab a cup of coffee.”

"Bro-“

"Coordinates sent!" 

 

***

 

"Seungcheol!" The short male waved him over, "you got here fast!” 

"Alright, fess up," the taller slouched on the couch, reaching for the cup the shorter had ordered for him. “You know something I don’t. I hate that.” 

Woozi knew better than try to make small talk with the older while he was still focused on a mission. Bounty Hunters like him were no fun; they all liked it straight to the point and precise. There was never room for small talk. "Do you remember when I first agreed to help you out whenever you needed me?"

"That was six months ago." 

Seungcheol recalled it quite vividly. He arrived back home from an offer to find Woozi eating chips on his couch. He had apparently needed someone to work with and chose S.Coups. He considered saying no to the random young man, but that fact that he knew who he was, where to find him and how to get in, was massively impressive that he couldn’t refuse.

"Yeah... well... let's just say, I'm not an independent contractor," Woozi confessed. “I was actually sent by someone.”

"You work for someone?" The taller deadpanned, a bit upset that he didn’t see it coming.

"Yes, and I offered to help you because they want to recruit you."

"Me?"

"They've been tracking you and your work. They know what you've been doing up and down East and South-East Asia," Woozi sipped his tea, "They want to add you to their unit."

A bit on edge, Seungcheol leaned forward, squinting at the intel man, "What does this have to do with today? Why are you telling me this now?”

Setting his mug down, he looked around to make sure nobody was near, "The kill that was supposed to be yours was taken for one of two reasons. It’s either they sent him down to tell me that I have to get a move along or it was his own doing."

"What?"

“The person who took your mission, I know him, I work with him… dare I say it, I’m friends with him.” He laughed to himself slightly, "We aren't partners. He has his own. But we work under the same employer."

"Wait... hold on... he said he was an Angel... I've heard of him. Last year, I was staking out a politician up in Osaka, he was complaining about how his branch in Kyoto was wiped out by an Angel. I thought he was just so drunk out of his mind."

"If you accept the offer, you can come with me to headquarters tomorrow and get all the answers you need from today. It’d be like what we’ve been doing but you’re just getting paid so much better than before.”

"I don't know man,"

"Bro you know how the game goes. When you make a name for yourself, and the underground knows you're leaving a contractor, they'll try to nab you for themselves."

"Well, it hasn't happened yet so..."

"Because nobody knows Tempest lost you yet," Woozi smiled, "You were their last hope of being in the top ten. Once everyone else finds out, Tempest is gone."

Seungcheol has been on his own for almost a year now. He remembered how everyone under the same contractor wanted to outrank him. Every single time he’d step into the headquarters, all he would get are nasty stares and up-turned noses. It wasn’t his fault he was –still is— a better bounty hunter than the rest of them. Leaving Tempest was the best thing to happen to him since his first paycheck. Not having his ‘co-workers’ breathing down his neck all the time and having him being auctioned on during partner missions was hell. But he left quietly where only his now ex-boss knew of his departure. "How did you find out?"

Woozi gave him a smile as if he knew his next cards would be deal breakers, "Madman."

Seungcheol almost choked on his coffee. "You work with the Madman?"

"You know how every six months the boss men meet up and bring a hunter for protection? The meet up happened a month before I found you. Boss took Madman like always because he’s skilled in detecting any hint of disturbance-"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I know you're gonna join," he smirked, "Anyways. Your former boss always came with an unknown hunter because you were always out getting a bounty around that time. But this time, when he said that you were out doing god knows what, Madman saw right through him. He didn't have you anymore."

Staring at Woozi, the more puzzled he became. He knew exactly what meeting he’s talking about. He’d only gone along once since he was available, but it was such a bore he decided not to go back. Woozi was the best technical analyst he’s worked with, Madman was notorious for inflicting maximum damage upon anyone who crossed his path, whereas The Angel, while elusive, could apparently make you feel so safe but yet so terrified. "Who the hell do you work for?"

"I'll answer all your questions if you accept the job offer."

Seungcheol considered his options. He could either continue to scrape the barrel and wait till people sought him out or…"I do miss the pay..."

"Is it a yes?” Woozi’s eyes lit up.

"Yeah, why not."


	2. Adjustment

Seungcheol follows Woozi into a parking garage basement. He didn’t really know what “dress casually” meant, so he settled for a white button-up and jeans, a bit relieved that the shorter was wearing something similar. The last thing he wants is to give his new boss a bad first impression.

"One thing you need to know about Top Tier contractors is that there is a main reason lower tiers can't touch them. Ever heard of a dirty cop?" 

"Yeah?" 

Stepping inside the elevator, Woozi whips out his wallet sliding out his badge and swiping it inside a crack in the wall. He didn’t want to admit it, but that is an incredible hiding place for a scanner.

 _“Snake Eyes; S06. Granted”_  

“Snake Eyes?” Seungcheol stares at the shorter male with wide eyes. Woozi is _the_ Snake Eyes; the best technical analyst and hacker in Korea, Tempest had been hacked once, and for three days, a pair of glowing red eyes continuously flashed on every monitor they had.

“You only use your skills when you’re on the clock don’t you?” The shorter male teased. He didn’t realize he had to use his deductive reasoning skills on someone he trusted. Not wanting to somehow further the argument, he allowed himself to roll his eyes before asking him to continue. 

The elevator stops on the third floor, doors opening up to a brightly lit lobby, "Well, we work for the Asia Cooperation Dialogue. Bounty Hunters are hired from different Asian countries to do their dirty work. Where Tempest was just a place with a boss handing out requests given to them by civilians, contractors who are under ACD, are untouchable, because we basically work for the cops and one wrong move, and Phantasia will annihilate you."

"Phantasia? So, they really are number one in all this?”

"Dude, just think of them as S Class hunters. They've got the Red Queen, White Tail, Archimedes, BoA, and who know who else,"

"How do you know?"

"Madman tells me."

Seungcheol was about to ask a follow-up question when he finally sees the logo on the wall behind the receptionist who instantly bowed seeing the two. He tries to compose his shock when his eyes trace the diamond logo. 

"You... work for Diamond Edge..." he deadpanned, "The Madman... works for Diamond Edge... you work with the Desert Fox. I'm going to be under the same contractor as the Desert Fox?"

Diamond Edge is in the top five when it came to bounty hunting. Their reputation is almost spotless. They are considered –how Woozi would call it— untouchable. When he worked for Tempest, his coworkers would occasionally prepare for a mission that could make a name for themselves, only for them to come up empty-handed, the job is already done for them. One had threatened to hunt down the so-called Desert Fox, only for their boss to come out, stone cold, to say “If you do, I’ll put a bullet through your head. Desert Fox; not only does she outrank all of us, but she belongs to Diamond Edge. You go after one of them, we’re all dead.”

Walking past the reception area, he is led into an extremely large room, with a couple of work desks spread around the main. Compared to Tempest’s headquarters, Diamond Edge was the complete opposite. Everything looked as if it was the latest technology, and it seemed so bright and lively with all the workers laughing and talking.

"Oh? You know Nana?!" Both turned around to see a man smiling widely at them. 

Woozi grabs the other man’s elbow to drag him closer, allowing Seungcheol to look the man up and down, "S.Coups, this is 10:10."

"You're S.Coups!" 10:10 smiles brightly. Given the name, he assumes he was a hunter as well, but his smile showed nothing but warmth. "I've been wanting to meet you because I heard you got Yoon's kill before he did! He was so pissed!"

"Yoon?" Seungcheol glances at Woozi for help. "Do you guys use code names in the office or?"

"Nah! It’s Soonyoung. Oh! By the way, SE, Ailee wants to talk to you before you head out; Something about owing her ramen.” He waves at them before heading towards the elevator.

Giving the shorter a skeptical look, Woozi seemed to have known what his follow up question is, "With him, he kills exactly when the clock strikes the time. It's the last thing they see before it's lights out."

Following him down the hall passing by many decorative doors, into a room that has two red eyes in the middle of the door. They enter to find two people, one had tan skin with his legs propped on the table while the other sat on the floor next to the cabinet.

"What are you two bean poles doing in my office?"

"Heard the notorious S.Coups was with you," the tanner one stood up, "You're the one who took out Kwan Tyler?"

"What about it?" 

The other male stood as well, throwing one arm around him, "We took out his brother the month before."

"So, you two are who the people have been calling Doctor Thunder and Mister Lightning," Seungcheol was pretty impressed. 

He vividly remembers how Kwan had begged him not to kill him the way his brother had died. 

 

_It was dead silent. S.Coups had taken out all of the men in his path as he approached the basement. He walked in and out of a couple of rooms quietly, searching for his target._

_He approached a locked door. Picking the lock, it swung open, revealing a boy, not even twelve, screaming at the top of his lungs, shakily holding a gun._

_Quickly, he rolled out of the way, retrieving the gun from his hand, and silencing him._

_"Hey, hey, buddy look at me," he was eye level with him. "You're okay now. We're gonna get you away from your dad okay?"_

_"How... how'd you know?"_

_"Your mom sent me," he smiled, "now stay here don't move. I'll come to get you when it's over."_

_Sneaking out once again, he heard a voice._

_"No! Go away!"_

_He got closer._

_"I know who you guys are! Go! Now!"_

_"Do you really know who I am?" He called, hiding behind a box. He saw his targets shadow. He had a gun drawn, arms shaking._

_"You're the ones who killed my brother," he hesitated. " I was there. It went down just like this."_

_"Like what?" He reached for his iron hidden behind his back._

_"I've heard about you guys. Mister Lightning," he called out mockingly. "They see you and then you vanish. You're like a mouse. Quiet. We see you first. And then your little friend comes, Doctor Thunder"_

_Slowly moving to the other side of the room he continued to egg him on while he got out his lighter, "Sounds like you really hate them,"_

_"YOU! I hate you! I hate the silence! It was completely silent.... then a pin dropped. And one of our men screamed. And you came along. Firing hails of bullets at my brother and men!"_

_"Well I hate to disappoint you," S.Coups continued to flick the lighter over the end of the iron before sticking the iron right on Kwan's back. Branding him with the letter 'S,' "I'm not them."_

 

"Mingyu aka Doctor Thunder, Wonwoo aka Mister Lightning, this is Seungcheol. Might as well know each other's names," Woozi shrugs, "He's starting today."

The wide-eyed look Mingyu gave them was almost comical. Were all the bounty hunters in Diamond Edge this different from their reputation?

Wonwoo pressed his lips together to suppress a smile, "Well, I'm never ditching meetings from now on."

"Who's here currently?" Woozi leads them out of his own office.

"Us, DK, 10:10 just left, and the Kid."

Seungcheol continues to follow behind his new co-workers, but he couldn’t help but stop in front of one of the doors. There is a pair of wings drawn on the door with a halo on top. But what really catches his eye is an extremely detailed painting of a dagger right in the middle, between the wings, under the halo. He tries to peer inside the frosted glass door but could only see darkness. _‘Angel of death huh?’_

Once they got back in the main office center, they see two boys sitting and talking animatedly with a girl with bangs. Sensing Woozi's eyes on them, both look up and run towards them, "Please tell me this is S.Coups!" The taller nearly begs.

Awkwardly, Seungcheol waves, "That's me."

"Shit man, Jun's gonna miss the greatest day in the office." 

"Wait a second," the shortest one of all of them spoke, "None of you guys mentioned my recruitment mission to _him_?" Woozi eyed everybody one by one. Nobody dares to look him in the eye, or even look in his direction. 

The man with an extremely big smile began to shake his hand, "I'm DK! you can call me DK or Seokmin, or idiot, it doesn't matter to me!"

"Hi! I'm his seasonal partner! My name is Chan but I'm known as the Kid."

Seungcheol wears a mildly surprised look on his face. The Kid didn’t look any older than twenty. "How old are you?" 

"Nineteen."

He was impressed. Granted, he started bounty hunting at eighteen, but it still raises the question what Chan is doing here at such a young age. There was just such a different vibe that was coming off of the group than what he was used to. It was usually cut and dry but here it was a free for all. Although he didn’t understand much that was happening in front of him, he opts to try to understand at least one thing. Why they were seasonal partners.

"Well, DK is enemy number two, next to the police, for serial killers and human trafficking. So, I team up with him every so often when he needs an inside man for the mission."

"I hate gross people who abuse men, women, and children and I believe they should all burn in the depths of hell; jail is too good for them." He somehow said with the biggest smile. 

"Meeting in five, boys," one of the girls lean over her desk and point towards the conference room, with visible glass windows that allow people to look inside. 

They all file inside, Seungcheol and Mingyu were about to enter when the elevator dings. Both heads turned to see a man wearing a grey tweed blazer with a white collared shirt underneath. His hair is blond and his fringes were perfectly placed on his forehead. In fact, everything about him screams perfect. 

"Oh man, you just lucked out my friend," Mingyu slaps him on the back. "Seungcheol, meet The Gentleman." 

Seungcheol tried to not widen his eyes to show his shock. He swore the Gentleman worked for Phantasia by how well known and elusive he is. "Hello, my name is Joshua."

Shaking his hand carefully, he eyes roam across the new face. Looking from the bleached hair to the cat-like eyes, down to his nose and an incredibly friendly smile. This man looks about his age, but incredibly handsome. "You're the Gentleman?"

His voice is soft and gentle, much like his entire aura, "That I am. It's nice to meet you Seungcheol."

Mingyu wraps his arms around the blond, codling him, "See where he gets his name? Joshy Josh here has the fourth highest body count out of us all. And he's only been here for a year and a half."

"Who has the highest?"

"Madman, The8, then the Angel."

"The Angel?" He raised an eyebrow. There goes that name again, "He took my kill last night."

Mingyu stares at Joshua with anticipation as things begin to click in his mind. The satchel he brought along is now forgotten on the floor and he’s staring wide-eyed at him. "Oh shit."

"Guys!" The tallest one screams into the conference hall, "Add a tally! Josh said 'Shit!'"

Slowly raising his finger to point at him, "You're Coup D’état... S.Coups, from Tempest?"

"Yes...?"

Joshua looks to Mingyu then to everyone staring at them from the conference window. His face slowly morphed into amusement as he let out a scoff. "Oh boy, you're gonna have a field day."

From the corner of Seungcheol’s eye, he sees the trainees bowing in one direction, he could only assume that their boss was approaching. Except he wasn’t expecting to hear heels clicking on the marble floor. His two new co-workers usher him inside the conference room – before he could even get a glimpse of the boss - seating him in between Joshua and Woozi.

"Hello! Welcome! You guys are here!" Everyone stands to bow. When Seungcheol looks up, he did not expect to see the one and only Desert Fox standing before them. 

"Everybody here who's supposed to be here?" she has a wide grin for everyone in the room, "Madman and The Ghost are on a hunt while The8 and Piano Man are currently on their way back from Indonesia. Where's 1004?"

The elevator rang once more. Another man, hidden underneath a face mask and a beanie walks in while wearing a black turtleneck with a blazer over it. As he stepped out of the elevator he removes the mask and the beanie revealing a pale face and short brown hair swept to one side. Seungcheol's full attention was on him. 

"Jeonghan!" Chan waves. 

_'Jeonghan huh?'_

Bowing as he entered the conference room, Seungcheol's eyes never left him. With him and Joshua, he would never have guessed that they were even remotely related to Diamond Edge. 

"Sorry I'm late, there was an accident on my way here-" he stops in his tracks when he sees Seungcheol’s unfamiliar face. "Oh hi! You must be new here!"

Joshua nudges him to stand up. "I'm Seungcheol, it's nice to meet you."

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you," Shaking his hand with a smile. 

"You all are Satan’s spawns," Woozi said to everyone in the room.

"Did I miss something?" Jeonghan leans over to see everyone trying to control their faces. 

Nana clears her throat, apparently in on it as well, "Han, meet S.Coups, our new bounty hunter."

"You took my kill!"

"You took my kills!"

Now. At the exact moment, he can understand how this Jeonghan person, can be a bounty hunter. It’s as if the smile was ripped off his face and replaced with a look of pure hatred. As soon as they comprehend what was happening, Jeonghan took the hand he was still holding and twisted it behind Seungcheol's back, shoving him against the glass window. The desk workers all watch as Jeonghan draws his gun out, pointing it at the back of his head.

"Jeonghan release him." Seungcheol hears Woozi scold along with some slapping sounds and a hushed “stop recording this Gyu.”

Seungcheol felt hesitation from his assailant before using his free hand to push himself off the glass and knocking Jeonghan's back against the table as he yanks out a Swiss Army knife from his sleeve to press it against his throat. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

He felt arms pry him off of his attacker while he saw Joshua and Chan restrain The Angel; the two seem to be having trouble keeping a hold him.

"What the hell is wrong with me? What hell is wrong with you?! You took my mission in Japan and then another one in Malaysia!"

"You took mine last night!"

"Cry me a fucking river!"

Nana seemed to have enough of the argument when she slams her hands on the board behind her, "Stand down, all of you!" 

"This place confuses the shit out of me," Seungcheol ran his fingers through his hair, "You all don't look like who you say you are," he motioned them all before pointing to Jeonghan than Nana, "You're psycho, and I thought you were a bounty hunter!"

"Sit down, all of you," she commands as her eyes scan the entire conference room, "Angel, apologize to S.Coups."

Silence fell inside the room, all eyes on either Seungcheol or Jeonghan, anticipating what the next words were going to be. "I'm sorry you're a piece of shit.”

Jeonghan pushed himself out of the seat and stormed out. Mingyu, Chan and Joshua gave each other hesitant looks before Joshua smiles, "I'll go don't worry." He said before getting up to tail Jeonghan to his office. 

"I don't know what I was expecting honestly," Nana shrugs. "Anyways, I called this meeting to properly introduce S.Coups to you all but apparently you all met him so... dismissed."

As the rest stood to leave, she asks Seungcheol to stay back. She moves to close the door and presses a button that caused the glass windows to become tinted.

"You could have done that when I was about to have my brains blown out of my head?"

"I apologize for his behavior," she sat down in front of him.

Leaning back in his chair he stared at Nana, “What is up with this place? It’s so different from my last contractor. Everyone is so different.”

"I get it. It's different from how things ran in Tempest. Everyone's serious, determined to outrank each other. But that's not how things work around here. How do you think we got where we are? The people on this list," she pointed to the board, "are our top hunters. Which are all of them. We train you all to be the best at what you do, we work you guys to perfection and make you notorious. You all made names for yourselves. But sometimes it's good to let loose, and act like yourself. The only time I ask for them, and you know, to act professionally is when I'm assigning you cases."

His gaze fell onto the board. _‘Madman, The8, The Angel, Gentleman, The Ghost, Doctor Thunder, Mister Lightning, Piano man, 10:10, DK, the Kid, Snake Eyes.’_ He’s heard about almost all of them. They did their job well. But how come they all seemed so… playful?

“Now, I'd like to get to know you so I know what cases to assign you."

Seungcheol craned his neck forward to get a good look at her, "I saw you last year. You were a bounty hunter that was brought along. It was the only time I went to that meeting."

"Yes, the 'boss man' is just a ruse. The boss that shows up is my right-hand man Ren. He goes in my place and takes Madman with him. The others are quite sexist and wouldn't ever take a woman seriously. But I promise you, three out of the fifteen bosses down there, are actually women."

Sitting in silence he thought for a moment, "Diamond Edge, Starship, and Phantasia right? The three on top?"

Amusement was written on her face as she tilted her head to the side, "How do you figure?"

"My mom taught me that women can do man’s job, maybe even better. I always wondered how the top three were so far ahead of all the other contractors. Had no leads, until now."

"Perceptive. Smart." She opens up a file, her eyes scanning the papers inside. "So, Choi Seungcheol. From Daegu. You're twenty-four, your first on record contract kill was a gang leader in Busan six years ago?" Nana waited for the nod before continuing, "Now tell me, why'd you start?"

"My dad was a cop. He told me to stand up for the little guys. So, it was after I found out my teacher was soliciting money from students when I was seventeen. One of my classmates was on the less fortunate side, the teacher would threaten to fail him if he didn't hand over some sort of income. I told my dad, and when they started investigating they found the teacher was part of this illegal gambling ring. My dad got murdered in the process of taking them down. I swore to myself that no child should suffer and not have his or her parent come home because of rats like that."

Nana smiled at him, placing a hand on top of him, "Just know you're not alone here okay?" She clicks her pen to write some notes down, "Do you have any preferences on your assignments?"

"I'm usually a blue-collar kind of guy. Corrupt politicians, corrupt employers. I'm not fond of dirty people."

"Hence Coup D’état..." she nodded, "I'm so glad I snagged you before Yoona or Hyorin got to you... anyway, it seems my Angel is going to have quite the vendetta against you."

"He's insane."

"He's not, I promise."

"He was about to kill me."

"Joshua would never let that happen."

"It's not like I tried to take his kills!"

"I think you just have to get to know him a bit more."

"Just because I work with him doesn't mean I have to get to know him."

She closed the folder, sliding it neatly into her leather briefcase, "Well you'll be one of his partners from now on."

His head almost exploded. "What!? Why!"

"Because you and he have the same hit interest."

"What? Didn't-"

With a reassuring smile, she pressed the button to un-tint the windows, "I think you should talk to the others about this alright?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more Jeonghan/Seungcheol interactions in the future don't worry  
> \- [Woozi's Office](https://78.media.tumblr.com/2da669809daf0471058b365fb66bf5ac/tumblr_oho688ymGV1ttdyz7o2_540.gif)  
> -[Headquarters](http://img.archilovers.com/projects/00193665-26e6-46ee-a73b-20267ca26234.jpg) [area](http://www.birddogdistributing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/T8-Office-01-1024x768.jpg)  
> Sorry for any mistakes!


	3. S.Coups' Enigma

“He still hates me.” 

“It can’t be that bad.”

Seungcheol ran his fingers through his hair before pointing out of the window of the conference room. Nana follows the direction to see Jeonghan sitting on one of the female bounty hunter’s desk, sharpening Azrael - the name of him dagger he had learned a couple of days ago when it was launched at him in the break room - and staring straight at him. She could almost laugh at the sight.

It was no secret that almost all of Diamond Edge’s bounty hunters were attractive, Nana considered it the perfect bait, but Jeonghan was a special case. Mostly because handsome was such an understatement for the man. The boy had a face of an angel, it was just so fitting.

 Seeing him staring at Seungcheol with such hatred in his eyes while he was wearing an oversized sweater that was half green and half yellow, she couldn’t help but praise herself for grabbing such a catch. To ease the newbie’s spirits, she gave an eyebrow raise to signal him to calm down. She received an eye roll, shoving it back in his scabbard.

“I feel like once I walk out of this room, he’s going to come up behind me and stab me.”

“Jeonghan would never stain the floor like that!”

Turning in disbelief at the lack of sympathy, his jaw nearly drops. He has been with Diamond Edge for a little over two weeks now and he’d been welcome with open arms; extremely open arms. Save for one person. Joshua and Woozi – he learned wasn’t either of their real Korean names, and he wasn’t going to get them any time soon - have been his personal guide and helping hand around the headquarters. Mingyu and Seokmin have taken certain liking to the newbie as they chose to eat lunch in his office. Chan, he learned, is an extremely mature kid for his age. He would be the one to tell people to take their work seriously, only to end up tangled in their mess. Wonwoo was a bit closed off, but he still had good conversations with him while Soonyoung was an open book. Hell, he even made good company with the trainees.

He has yet to meet the other four, apparently always missing The Piano Man by a day. But the real issue is The Angel. Every time he enters a room, the younger man would exit. The first time he walked into the gym to spar with Soonyoung, Jeonghan saw him through the mirror and ended up punching the speed-bag so hard it almost split open. Once he even tried to get into his own office, only to find his computer missing – it was found later in the break room.

“I don’t get it. I try to apologize, but then I get told to go to hell! Mingyu tells me to just be patient but that’s really hard especially when he uses my face as target practice.”

“Don’t be dra-” She cut herself off when Seungcheol reached into his back pocket pulling out a piece of paper and unfolding it to reveal his face with bullet holes in it. “Oh… Well you did take his missions.”

“I didn’t know!”

 

 ***

 

In a way, when he met Jun, he met Jeonghan too – a side of Jeonghan anyway.

He got back from a mission around two in the morning from Taiwan to report back to Nana. There are only two or three trainees left around the headquarters. Seungcheol expected to be met with dead silence, but instead, the sound of a piano resonates throughout the headquarters and he knew exactly what room it was coming from.

For the past three weeks, he had been walking past office doors with decorations, one specifically was self-explanatory. At the end of the hall there were piano keys painted on the door who he could only guess belonged to the infamous Piano Man. As he approached to door, he could hear soft voices singing along. Seungcheol reached for the knob only to be stopped by one of the other technical analysts at Diamond Edge.

“S.Coups? Nana is looking for you?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, thanks, Kyla.”

He trailed behind her, following her through the desks. “What were you doing in front of Jun’s office?”

A bit taken aback Seungcheol scratched the back of his neck, “Oh no yeah, I just thought I heard people singing back there.”

“Oh, you most likely heard right. After an intense mission, a couple of them chill in Jun’s office since his is the biggest. Han usually takes naps but sometimes they kind of break out into song. Usually him, Shua, Seokmin, and Seungkwan. Woozi joins in sometimes, but it’s only when he’s in a great mood.”

“Woozi sings? They can sing? Jeonghan can sing?”

 Knocking on Nana’s door she gave him a funny look, “Don't forget, we’re all human. We all have different talents besides hunting down creeps."

After discussing his first overseas mission with the company, he’s finally cut loose around three to find the main area empty. Dragging his feet to his office to hopefully get home to at least get in a couple hours before returning later that day. But he couldn't help himself from his curiosity. The piano was still going, but instead, there were only small, gentle notes being hit, not enough to be a song. 

 Cracking the Piano Man's door open he found a room about three times the size of his own. In one corner sat a white grand piano while in the other corners were his desk and a couch which was currently occupied. Then he saw him. The Piano Man himself playing away at the piano. It all came to a holt when his name was called. 

"Cheol? You're still here?" Looking around, he found Joshua leaning against the leg of the piano, closest to -Jun? was it?- the man. 

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

"No, we were just resting," the Piano Man approached him, "Wen Junhui. Nice to finally meet you."

"It's great to finally put a face to a name. I'm pretty sure I'd be more scared to encounter you on the field than Wonwoo."

He's heard a couple of stories about him. Piano Man always worked with The8. Whenever police would show up after they've completed the job, a song would always be playing, it was always a piece on the piano and the bounty would always be bound with piano strings.

 "Well, I'd take Shua's method than be branded by you. And that's a compliment."

"I, I uh heard singing earlier..." he looked around only to trail off when his eyes landed on Jeonghan sleeping the couch.  

"Yeah, aw man, you could have met Seungkwan... that's too bad!" Joshua frowned a bit before smiling once more when he found Seungcheol's gaze on Jeonghan, "Consider yourself lucky he fell asleep before you walked in. He hates when people walk in when he's singing."

"Apparently, he's got something against you bud," Jun laughs, "It takes a lot to get on Jeonghan's bad side."

"I don't know what to do, I've tried apologizing to him but he ends up sticking post-it notes on my face telling me to fuck off. I don't want him to hate me." 

"Jeonghan's dramatic and a handful, don't take it to heart. Give him some time."

 "He looks so harmless right now, it's like he doesn't want to kill me."

 "Trust me on this, he doesn't want to kill you."

"The bullets in my picture beg to differ." Seungcheol sighed, "I just don't want any bad blood between us."

This seemed to perk Jun's curiosity as his eyes shifted from Joshua to Seungcheol, "Can I ask why?"

"I don't know... I mean we work together and Nana said we'd be working in the field in the future. I don't want whatever is going on to hold us back from getting the job done..."

"You think he's hot don't you?"

 Seungcheol choked. "What?"

 "You gay? Bi? Pan?"

 "Bi and no I don't."

 "Then you're lying to yourself." Joshua scoffed, "Can you look me in the eye and tell me you aren't the least bit attracted to him?"

 "Woozi told me you couldn't keep your eyes to yourself when you first met him." Jun nudges him playfully. 

"I- I did not- I'm not attracted to my co-worker! Especially to the one who hates me!"

"Shua already said he doesn't hate you! Plus, if you ask me… he knows a thing or two about being attracted to a co-worker."

Joshua gasps at Jun’s loud mouth, "Shut up."

 Seungcheol looks between the two, Jun kept wiggling his shoulders at the older while Joshua’s jaw slacked to the side looking extremely betrayed. He continues to watch until he gives in and finally asks what – or in this case, who – they’re talking about.

The Gentleman huffs as he strides towards his best friend, "Nobody knows besides Jun and Han. But it isn’t a big deal, we aren’t dating. There’s just nothing wrong with being attracted to another bounty hunter, that’s all."

"He’s finally admitting to something." The Chinese man leans against his piano before whispering to Seungcheol who stood beside him now, “The guy has been low-key pining since Joshua’s first month, but neither refuses to do anything.”

Seungcheol gave both a look of amusement. It’s like he’s back in high school, a bunch of gossiping people talking about who likes who. But just because it reminded him of high school, doesn’t mean that he hates it. So, he eggs on by leaning closer, "Who is it?" 

"When Jeonghan and you are on good terms I'll tell you." Joshua challenges him, completely satisfied by the reactions and Seungcheol whispering how he’s never going to find out. Shaking Jeonghan’s shoulders he attempts to wake him, "Han, let's go home."

Seungcheol watches with Jun as Jeonghan stumbles as he stands. The younger male walks right towards Seungcheol, colliding with him. Seungcheol – being the kind person he is –  held his elbows steadying him. Their faces were a couple of centimeters apart, Jeonghan’s eyes barely open while Seungcheol’s were wide. The brunet blinks slowly, opening his eyes and stares at him lazily. "I wanna fucking stab you."

The words slurred out of his mouth before shoving him –weakly– out of the way as he exits the room.  

Seungcheol gives the other two a look of shock, "And you said he doesn't want to kill me!"

"Killing and stabbing are two different things," Joshua says as he shrugs following in suit, "Night guys, see you later." 

"Fascinating..."

"What is? The fact that even when he’s half unconscious, he stills thinks about hurting me?”

“No. It’s the fact that if he doesn’t like somebody, he usually doesn’t even use his energy on them.” Jun gives him a look of wonderment. “You, my new friend, have a sticky situation.”

  

 ***

 

The day he meets Minghao is a day he’ll never forget.

Seungcheol took his seat next to Woozi in the conference room, sipping his coffee. Seokmin and Mingyu were arguing in front of the room while Jeonghan sat near the front, glaring at the two.

“Alright! Everybody’s here!” Seokmin spun around greeting the bounty hunters and purposely slapping Mingyu’s arm. “This has to be the most important meeting to be held to date. So, we need all of your focus.”

The newbie turns to see everyone’s focus on the two standing in the front. It’s really only been a month and he’s still unsure how things work around here. So, with this important meeting being held without Nana seems a bit off. But it all changes when both Mingyu and Seokmin hold up two different photos of Jeonghan. “Which hairstyle was better? Long haired Jeonghan or bob cut Jeonghan? Go!”

“Long hair was _infinitely_ better than the bob. It was iconic!” Woozi declares.

Wonwoo seemed to take offense in the statement, scoffing in disagreement, “I beg to differ; the bob was a bold statement that Ren didn’t even try.”

Seungcheol watches with amazement at how intense the debate was going. Everybody, with the exception of himself, had genuine, yet biased, opinion on Jeonghan’s hair as if it was a serious matter.

“Josh! How could you say you didn’t like the bob?" 

“I didn’t say I hated it, I just preferred your long hair over it.” Joshua raised his hands in his defense, “Cheol what do you think?”

All eyes zeroed in on him, including Jeonghan’s. It took seconds before Mingyu and Seokmin ran towards him, shoving the two pictures in his face. “The bob complements his facial features and it’s the first time we’ve ever seen him with black hair. It was amazing.”

Seokmin all but pushed Mingyu to the ground before handing Seungcheol his photo, “Yeah whatever, but do you not see this? Do you know his success rate when he caught his bounty with this hair? Across the board, gold stars man! And look at the way it frames his face? The brown hair accentuating his beauty while at the same time making his complexion look a bit tanner. He was the package.”

"When dyed it blond!" Chan chimed in.

“Yeah, the package that could have gotten caught,” Wonwoo snaps, “Do you not remember that’s the exact reason he had to cut it? Because people got wind of him.”

“Wow…” Seungcheol held the picture up to Jeonghan now. He tries to process how he looks the same but extremely different. The brown hair was the same, but his features seem to be much sharper than they were. He looks into Jeonghan’s eyes, he knows he’s looking back, and even though the look on his face screams “I’ll murder you” his eyes scream louder. As if they’re actually concerned with what his answer may be. Slowly, he looks back at Seokmin, who’s still waiting for his response, and hands him the picture back, “I… Uh… The long hair was nice but I actually prefer what he looks like now.”

From the corner of his eye, he sees Jeonghan’s head perk up from the unexpected comment. As soon as he said it the room went back to its debate but he could still feel Jeonghan’s eyes on him. Seungcheol gives him a quick glance and sure enough, his eyes were still on him. Out of habit, he sends the younger a small smile and it seems he wasn’t expecting that either since his eyes widened. What confuses Seungcheol even more, is when Jeonghan closes his eyes and sighs, turning away from him. 

“How come we’re talking about his hair and not Mingyu’s mistake of going blond?”

All heads turn to the entrance of the conference room. The voice clearly belongs to a foreigner, but he should have seen it coming when Jun got up and threw himself onto the man, hugging him and speaking Mandarin. It didn’t take long for one of the girl trainees to run up and jump on the new person’s back, therefore having two people clinging to him. Seungcheol puts his deductive reasoning skills into use and figures this is The8, the only other Chinese man on the team.

“Welcome back!” Soonyoung screams, throwing his hands in the air.

“I thought you guys went to Indonesia together?” Mingyu asks coming up and ruffling The8's hair.

“No,” Jun said a bit bitterly, clinging onto him tighter, “I got sent to Palu while he got sent to Jakarta. Nana wanted him to fly solo on his first mission back.”

Wiggling out of their grasps, The8 goes around saying his hellos and patting people on the back until he gets to Seungcheol and bows, “Hi! I’m Minghao!”

 “Seungcheol, and I’m terrified of you.” He smiles as he shakes his hand.

“The feeling is quite mutual. You make me uncomfortable. But. Doesn’t mean I don’t respect you.”

“And the feeling’s mutual too.” 

Minghao, aka The8 was somebody nobody could grasp. His signature was clean and precise. Sixty-four bullets in total, eight victims with eight bullets in each of them.

The two smile at each other, completely unable to see two pairs of eyes lingering on them. 

But he felt it.

“Wait, what do you mean my blond hair was a mistake?”

“You looked like a washed-up Ken doll.”

“Didn’t a bounty laugh at you before you took him out.” Wonwoo pointed out.

“Shut up, you had blue hair at one point!”

“And Soon had freaking red hair!”

Ignoring the commotion, Seungcheol opts for chatting with Minghao, “They said it was your first mission back? If you don’t mind telling me, but what happened?”

“Ahh… Jun, he’s usually my partner; he has my back and one of the only people who I trust to cover me and vice versa. But I had to fly solo for the last one and it ended up pretty bad. I got shot in the back, two millimeters two the left, I could’ve been paralyzed, I could have died.”

“But what happened?”

“Jun and Joshua showed up. Just in time. I laid low with recovery. Gone for four months. Nana gave me an out but I decided to stay.”

Jun appears behind Minghao, wrapping an arm around him and using his other hand to pet his head, “Yeah, no he’s not going solo for a long ass time man. I’m not leaving your side anymore!”

If there’s anything Seungcheol has learned in his time with Diamond Edge, is that everybody cares about each other. It’s a complete opposite of what he was used to. Tempest’s S.Coups was cold, distant, not close to anybody. Everybody kept to themselves, and did things for themselves, not giving a damn about anybody else. But now he’s learning. In Diamond Edge, everybody cares about each other. There are people around him who are all friends. He witnesses an incredible amount of teamwork and trust.

It’s freaking weird. But in a good way. Woozi had allowed him to watch a case he was working on with Joshua and Jeonghan the other week. Both worked in the “Dead or Alive” department, and since the bounty usually says “over my dead body” it makes it much easier to decide what to do with them. So, when he watched The Gentleman and The Angel actually work together, he couldn’t help but be amazed. Both were tracking their bounty in an empty office building, but they showed no stress or panic. Instead, they both strolled casually through the halls, Jeonghan twirling his knife while Joshua spun around in a rolling chair.

 “What are they doing?” Seungcheol had asked in utter confusion.

“Just watch, they’ve perfected this.”

So that’s what he did. He watched as Jeonghan hummed quietly, making his steps loud as he climbed the stairs. His eyes shifted to a different screen where Joshua was still seated and the CCTV next to him showed a man climbing the stairs fast. Soon enough, Joshua stood from his spot, pulling his gun out, and decided that the table in front of him seemed to look a lot comfier. He stares at his watch, pointing his gun at the door and the moment he lifted his head, the door flew open. 

“Right on time Cho! Welcome.”

He tried – he really did try – to turn and run but Jeonghan was already there, fiddling with Azrael in his hands.

“Peek-a-boo.” Jeonghan kicked the door closed.

“Heads or tails Cho?”

 “W-What?”

“Come on heads or tails?”

“Tails?”

“Ha! Fuck you!” Jeonghan stuck his tongue out towards his partner. “My bounty.” Joshua kicked over the rolling chair to only be stopped with the other’s foot before pushing Cho to sit. “So, we have a couple of options tonight. You can either comply with The Gentleman - oh look he got scared! Or I can force the information out of you.”

“Or… I could force the information out of you or you can listen to The Angel. What’s it gonna be?” 

Woozi suddenly sat straight, speaking into the mic, “Shit… both of you, twelve and six o’clock. Other building, same floor. Two people outside the door.”

Suddenly Jeonghan stiffened for a split second before spinning Cho to face Joshua, pushing him forward and grabbing his partner, ducking behind the bounty when a gun went off, hitting Cho in the shoulder. Without hesitation, Jeonghan pulled a revolver out, shooting a bullet almost exactly through the hole that was created through the window while Joshua shot two rounds at the door.

Seungcheol watched in awe as the three bullets landed in all of their targets when they weren’t even visible. That was a skill he wasn’t expecting and trust that just didn’t seem real.

 “Clear! Get out of there!”

“Leave or take?”

“His phone is encrypted so just take his phone, pen, shoes and check his teeth. Any other hard objects on him take it.” 

“Roger that SE.”

It’s intense on the amount of trust and care they all have for each other. Rather than tearing each other and trying to climb to the top, they make sure they all are there.

 

***

 

“Jeonghan!”

“What?”

“It’s noon, which means, I’m apologizing. Again. For like the sixtieth time. Literally.”

Unimpressed, Jeonghan turns around, giving him a bored look, “You’re keeping count for many times you apologize?”

“Yes…”

The Angel gave him a once over. Seungcheol has literally been apologizing for two months straight at this point. If Jeonghan was out on a mission for a while, he’d leave post-it notes that read “I’m sorry; stop hurting me” with the date on it, and if he wasn’t in the headquarters he’d get Kyla to give his apologies for him.

In response to the constant apology, he flicked the older on the forehead and spoke in a monotone voice. “Not accepted. Nana told me I couldn’t kill you, stab you, shoot you or make you bleed. I hate you.”

“Maybe… Just maybe… You should stop apologizing.” Soonyoung placed his elbow on Seungcheol’s shoulder, watching Jeonghan retreat in his office. “Give up man. If Sir Jeong Jeong has not forgiven you by now, maybe you should just let it be.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a likable person.  Everyone likes me! Even if someone hates me they still are nice to me!”

“Is Jeonghan still giving you the cold shoulder?” Nana walked up to her two bounty hunters.

“Since you’ve made it clear he can’t kill me, he’s reverted to flicking me every time I speak, pouring an immense amount of sugar in my coffee, throwing crumpled up paper at me. The closest thing I get to any type of proximity is when he chooses to spar with me only to punch me.”

“Because you suck.” 

Nana shook her head at Soonyoung's input, “No darling, S.Coups has seven years of Taekwondo under his belt, trust me, he’s letting Jeonghan punch him.”

 

The next day, Seungcheol walks into the gym with Minghao, dressed in grey sweats and regular tank tops. They spot Jeonghan, clad in Adidas track pants and a black dry fit shirt, already stretching out with Joshua.

“They are literally the same person.” Minghao sighs as him and Seungcheol begin wrapping their hands.

“Spar teams!” Jun dropped down from god knows where (“He fell from the banister… no I don’t know why he was up there. Just because I’m his partner doesn’t mean I know his life.”).

Seungcheol looks around as everyone gathers on the mat. “Mingyu, you’re with me today. Eisa, go with Jisoo. Wonwoo train with Chan, he wants to learn how you tumble without making a sound. My beloved Coups, you’re with my beloved Jeonghan; Jeonghannie, don’t break him. Seokmin go with Hoshi so he can teach you the pressure points.”

The group paired off, leaving Jeonghan and Seungcheol in the middle of the matt, in a ready stance. It was Jeonghan who made the first move, he tries to land a right-hook but it was dodged. Bouncing off his left foot, he went in for a roundhouse kick only for it to be blocked with Seungcheol’s arm. With every swing, it was countered with a faster block or duck. Finally, the raven-haired man decided to fight back.

“We’re getting bold, now aren’t we?” Jeonghan clicked his tongue when he stumbled back. The brunet runs towards him as if he was ready to punch but instead slides under Seungcheol’s outstretched arms, twisting his body enough to grab onto it and throwing him across the mat, only for him to land on one knee.

“Predictable, now aren’t we?” Seungcheol challenged.

The older waited for The Angel to make his move. It became a throw and block match between them. Everybody’s eyes were on them. It seemed endless until Seungcheol stepped over one of Jeonghan’s leg only to use the other to knock him off balance, finishing with Seungcheol on top, pinning him down on the mat.

“Hmmm, this is a good view.” The older teased as he watched Jeonghan glare with annoyance.

“S.Coups kicked your ass.” Mingyu sang.

Standing up, Seungcheol held a hand out to help Jeonghan out, but it was slapped away with an eye roll. “Might hate you, but that was a good fight dick head.”

“Thanks… I guess?” He mumbles as he watches the brunet walk towards the showers. He didn’t know whether it was a compliment or a back-handed one. All he knew was that The Angel is an enigma he didn’t mind having around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's my birthday and I wasn't going to post, but I've already started the next chapter so might as well! Sorry for any mistakes!  
> Also, imagine Boom Boom era Jeongcheol, Clap Joshua, and DWC everyone else


	4. If everything was easy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two different updates from me? It feels weird. But this one has been long overdue!

Seungcheol likes to think he’s got his life all figured out. He has a source of income, granted it wasn’t the most ethically acceptable job, he has friends, a good boss, food on his table, a roof over his head. But it isn’t until he steps back and sees it from a normal person’s perspective that his life is pretty much fucked up.

His job description is literally “Bounty Hunter,” his co-workers have a dead or alive list as a game, one of his co-workers wants him dead, his boss is a kick-ass woman who could probably kill someone with a ball of lint and his source of income is from people who want other people dead.

To anybody, they’d think that person was a psychopath. For Seungcheol; it was a Tuesday.

He was heading towards Busan since Nana had commanded him to. Whatever the Desert Fox demands, she gets. So, when he arrives to said location, he’s met with a familiar face.

“Ren?”

“Just in time! I have a couple of people I want you to meet.” The more experience bounty hunter led him to meet four other people. “Meet Mad Clown and I.M.”

The two men turned and Seungcheol almost ran the other way. Just their names sent goosebumps up his spine. He politely bowed. He knew exactly what was going on. It was time for the biannual meeting of the Contractors. And he just met Starship’s representatives.

Ren motioned to the two others standing to the right of him, a man and a woman, both tall with large eyes. Seungcheol hates to admit it, but they were attractive. “This is White-Tail and Red Sun."

Holding his breath his eyes jumped from face to face. He wanted to combust. On the spot. Because as much as he respected White-Tail and her track record, he was standing before Red Sun. From Phantasia. The first name his old boss told him to stay away from. The man was legendary. And there he was, flesh and blood, smiling at him.

“Is it bad that I feel like I’m meeting an idol?” He whispers to Ren, completely aware that the two could hear him.

“You’ve got a cutie there-” White-Tail cuts herself off, her face turning into complete amazement, “Oh. Fox didn’t tell me about _this_.”

Seungcheol froze in realization. _‘Holy shit, Holy shit, Holy shit; White-Tail is Phantasia’s contractor. Holy shit, Holy shit. Red Sun is the stand-in, holy shit.’_

“We’re going to have fun, today aren’t we?” Ren smiled as he led the way inside the casino; it was rather empty with only a couple of people here and there, perfect for a low-key meeting.

They approached the table in the far-left corner, filled with men, bodyguards around the velvet rope. Seungcheol saw that there was a person behind everyone who was seated.

“Put this on, you’ll know when to take it off.” Ren handed him a face mask and a hat. Quickly following instructions, he walked carefully behind Ren. One could say S.Coups was living his best life, while Seungcheol was having a freak attack since he was wedged right between the two other top Contractors, with the boss of the best one, just four steps ahead.

“Welcome!” Red Sun loudly said, claiming everyone’s attention. He, Ren and Mad Clown sat at the head of the table; Seungcheol followed silently, standing behind Ren’s chair, copying what I.M and White-Tail were doing.

“Updates. Go.”

One man began speaking about how they have received an influx of child abduction cases and how his men couldn’t seem to find the source. Everyone seated began taking notes on where the activity was to be on the lookout.

“Everyone who knows something about that, report to Cube. If Cube comes up empty-handed, you pass it to Diamond Edge. I know Cube has the Elk with them right now; you’ve done good work,” Red Sun praises the Bounty Hunter, “But if she can’t solve it in three weeks time, it’s going to be given the DK and The Kid.”

There was a couple of grumbles. Seungcheol caught White-Tail tap on Red Sun’s shoulder a couple of times before he slams his hand on the table. “Is there an objection to that decision? Because last time I checked, those two have more hunts successful than all of your men combined when it comes to abductions. So, I ask once more. Who. Objects?”

Silence.

“Good.”

White-Tail hands him a sheet of paper. A list.

Then it all comes back to him. The one-time Seungcheol went to one of these meetings, usually, new recruits are claimed, and shown.

“Whisper belongs to us.” One man raised his hand, asking the girl behind him to remove the face mask. A girl with long hair and bangs is revealed, throwing a silk rope on the table; the proof to show it was her, her signature.

The list continued, where Phantasia calls out hunters, giving their contractors kudos. It wasn’t until he heard his name.

“S.Coups. Ah, this guy. He has taken out seventeen wanted men and women since our last meeting, including the at large, Kwan Tyler. This guy is impressive. Where is he?”

That’s when he saw his ex-boss, Han Sungsoo, “Ah, he’s out as per usual. He’s in Hong Kong, tailing a sex-trafficking ring.”

“Oh, is that so?” Ren spun his pen between his fingers, looking bored out of his mind. “How can we trust your credibility?”

There were whispers going around the table when Ren spoke. It seems out of character for Diamond Edge to speak since they rarely do.

“What is he talking about?”

“Doesn’t he usually bring Madman?”

“Did they get a new recruit?”

“Their last recruit was The Gentleman, who could this be?”

At that moment, Seungcheol tosses the slightly charred piece of metal on the table, drawing silence in the room. All eyes were on the letter ‘S’ with a hole in the middle, most likely the slot where the rod and handle attached.

He figures it was about time to remove the mask and hat. Ruffling his hair as the whispers increased he gave a cocky smile to his old contractor, “Hey boss.”

The look the old man gave him was picture worthy. He never felt better about himself until that moment, the look he gave was as if he just lost everything; in a way, Tempest did.

“Because for almost a year Mister S.Coups here has been running solo,” Ren feigned amazement as he turned to the bounty hunter, “And for the past, almost three months has been working under Diamond Edge.”

“Last meeting you informed us he was still under you?” Mad Clown leaned across the table to get a better look at Sungsoo.

“taking credit where it isn’t due… Shame. On your company and you.” Red Sun shook his head. “S.Coups, was it on your own accord to leave Tempest and join Diamond Edge?”

“Yes sir, I left Tempest on my own accord. I was recruited by Diamond Edge and willingly joined.” He wiggled his right pinky to show off the ring Nana had given him his first week. It had his initials engraved on the side. It’s a symbol of commitment to Diamond Edge.  “Especially after Snake Eyes assisted me in a solo mission.”

As the other men began whispering again Ren turned to give him a quick thumbs up and a look of complete pride before resuming to his condescending demeanor.

After the chatter diminished the “head” of Phantasia stood, “With the following announcements, there has been a change of ranking. Tempest drops seven spots to fifteen-”

“What?”

“S.Coups carried your name. Now. You’re nothing,” Red Sun snapped. “Cube takes fifth while Source takes sixth going up by two. Lastly, with news of obtaining one of the most sought out hunters, and his impressive record, Diamond Edge goes up to second.”

“What!” Mad Clown almost screams. “What the hell?”

Ren gave a quick glance to Seungcheol, it was a look that said, “Stay calm.” So, he knew, something was about to happen.

“Is there a problem? Because last time I checked, you are still top three Starship.”

Sitting down slowly, he composed himself, but it drew anger from the other side of the table, the whispering didn’t stop.

“You can’t just drop us to twelve because of one man!”

“Does Diamond Edge really have the skill?”

“They don’t have Madman tonight, we can take them.”

“The ranking hasn’t changed in almost three years! What gives them the power?” A younger contractor almost yells out. “We could take you out right now, all you have is a girl who probably weighs no less than a hundred.”

About five other men chimed in with complaints while the rest looked around, unsure who’s side to take. Out of the twenty that were currently seated at the table, about eight of them were slowly forming a coup.

It’s how society is. They see people in power, they get angry because they don’t have the same power. But that’s how everything worked. If there was no person in charge, then there would be chaos because nobody would know how to control things.

Both Ren and White-Tail give each other a look before pressing a finger to their earpiece. “Now.”

Instantly, the casino goes quiet, sounds of guns clicking. The bounty hunters behind their contractors get into a fighting position, but eventually, sounds of weapons dropping are heard. Seungcheol looks around. The seemingly dead casino, that held only about a dozen people, not including them, were all pointing weapons at the other end of the long table.

One could assume that most of them were a part of Phantasia. The ones that stood out the most were those surrounding the table. There was one extremely tall man standing behind Red Sun, pointing a revolver at Tempest’s representatives, while White-Tail somehow ended up across the table with a knife against another’s neck and a gun to his respective bounty hunter.

But then he saw a familiar face.

Soonyoung had two handguns pointed at the back of two bounty hunter’s head, staring at the clock in front of him.

10:07.

“Look around men. Besides the nineteen men called here plus their hunters, there are fourteen other bounty hunters here. Ten who belong to Phantasia. Four belong to Diamond Edge.” The tall man behind Red Sun spoke. “We have seven extremely talented hunters with us. And I don’t have to explain who Red Sun, White-Tail and I are.”

Seungcheol didn’t want to say it, but he didn’t know who the guy was. Maybe he did, but he’s never at these meetings so he didn’t know. He really didn’t want to ask.

“Diamond Edge brought four of their best hunters not including S.Coups. So, I suggest, you take back what you all said, because if you all didn’t know…” Ren looked up at Soonyoung making everyone look at him too, “You have one minute.”

The two who were Soonyoung’s target quickly begged for forgiveness, getting their contractors to apologize as well.

Soonyoung sighed, watching the time tick, thirty seconds away, “Beggars can’t be choosers…”

“Stand down 10:10,” Ren hummed.

“Damn…” He whispers in their ears, “I had fifteen seconds left.” Shoving his guns back in their holster. Seungcheol never expected Soonyoung, who giggles every time you poke him, would be as scary as he is. When Soonyoung stepped back allowing them to relax, it was short lived since Jun – once again – popped out of nowhere and wrapped a piano wire around their necks. “He’s off the clock now, looks like you’re stuck with me.”

“You have anything else to say about Diamond Edge?” All heads turned to – surprisingly – The8, sitting in one of the contractor’s chairs. Seungcheol leaned to see Fandango’s contractor on the ground, with Minghao’s foot, pressed on his back.

“Am I allowed to have this one?” An incredibly soft voice asked in the silence. They didn’t know where it was coming from until Jeonghan stepped around from behind Sungsoo, Azrael pointed directly to his back. A brown round hat rested on Jeonghan’s head with a beige colored button up on.

“Aw, The Angel’s here too!” Seungcheol chuckles pointing Jeonghan causing Soonyoung to nod in excitement.

“We were just going to grab some food until Ren called,” Minghao waving his gun around carelessly, making everyone flinch when it was near their direction.

“Can I kill him please?” Jeonghan said sweetly, “He gave us S.Coups.”

Ren shrugged looking over at Phantasia’s top three for an answer. They allowed Ren to make the call. “All hunters will stand down, only if, you all agree to never speak out of line again. If not, I’m sure Phantasia’s people will have no problem handling your men while one by one, my men, will take you out. Starting with The Angel, he looks antsy to kill you, specifically. And ending with S.Coups who-” Ren reached over grabbing his metal ‘S’ from the table, and sticking it on the iron rod that said man was already holding out, “Seems to be ready for more, since he just came back from a mission. See that Tempest? What happens when you respect them, they respect you right back.”

Seungcheol pursed his lips as he dragged his lighter back and forth on the iron, scanning the men.

After moments of silence, the men who stood against them minutes ago apologized and asked for forgiveness. “You see what we can do? The same thing goes as it usually does. If you even think about going after someone from Starship, Diamond Edge, and Phantasia. We’ll make sure you’re dead twelve hours after the fact.” The tall brooding man spoke again as he escorted White-Tail and Red Sun out.

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Who the fuck was that man holy shit,” Jun falls on the floor of Seungcheol’s office. “He was so tall and pale and broad and in charge holy shit.”

Seungcheol drops his coat over the Chinese man, trying hard to get him to forget his daydreaming. “I thought you’d know.”

“Madman probably knows who he is, he knows everybody because he goes to all those meetings.” Jun drags the coat away from his face to stare at the light on the ceiling. “I love my job.”

Both men looked up to see one of the trainees enter, “I have your new assignment Cheol.”

Taking the folder from her hands he eyed her curiously, “You okay there, Kyung? You look like you want to say something?”

“I… Just… I don’t want to give the assignment to Jeonghan.”

“Why no-”

“I got it!” Jun flipped himself up – show off – picking the folder out of her hands, skipping towards The Angel’s door. Before the girl could protest he was gone, giving Seungcheol a panicked look.

He doesn’t understand what the big deal is; that was until he opened up the file to scan it. There, in the top left corner of the file, read: _S.Coups and The Angel_.

“WHAT THE HELL!”

The two looked up at each other with wide eyes. ‘ _That’s why she was scared._ ’

Both ran out of his office to see Jun standing there with a shit-eating grin as he watched Jeonghan storm off into the elevator. Everybody in the headquarters turned to look at the three standing in the hall, even Minghao and Soonyoung poked their heads out. “I’m fucked.”

Seungcheol knows he needs to fix whatever was between the two. He’s been trying, but three months isn’t enough time. There was just no way Jeonghan is mad about him taking the mission; it had to be personal to him.

So, the next day, Seungcheol planned on getting to the bottom of it.

Jeonghan walked down the corridor towards his office the morning after when an arm reached out, yanking him into an office. Ripping his headphones out he rolled up the files in his hands and began whacking Seungcheol with it. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"God, just stop," the older grabbed his wrists to halt the abuse, "Can you really not spend more than a second with me without assaulting me?"

When the younger stopped struggling it was only then, did he realize how close they were. Seungcheol couldn't help but feel his heart beat a bit faster with his face a couple of centimeters away from The Angel's face. It didn't help when he scrunched his nose in disgust that made him a bit more attractive.

"Please. You act like you don't deserve it," Jeonghan yanked his arms out of his grip before leaning against the wall. "What do you want?"

"Listen, I know being my partner isn't ideal. We've been working together for almost three months now. But I don't know how else to apologize for nabbing those kills, I’ve been trying to but I don’t know what to do. What _can_ I do?"

"Unkill them."

"Jeonghan come on," he sat on the edge of his desk. He watched as the androgynist man runs his fingers through his hair. "What was so important about those kills?"

After a minute of an intense stare, Jeonghan opts to look at the wall, "It doesn't concern you, Choi."

"It does now. We're partners. I know I'm not Josh, or Seokmin, or Chan, but how do you expect us to work together if you don't trust me?" 

He gave the older a once over before rolling his eyes, seemingly giving in, "You're new here and already you already have the sixth most kills and successes? And you were the top Hunter in Tempest. What idiot wouldn't trust you? No cross that, only an idiot wouldn’t trust you."

A bit taken aback he continued to stare, "Then why do you still give me so much shit for the kills?"

"Because they were two out of my three leads to finding out who killed my dad," he sighed rubbing his forehead, "Listen, parents aren’t really a taboo here. Everyone knows about mine so I don't really care. But it's making sure I find out who did it and I take the kill."

"So, you have your own agenda?"

"Not really. I still wait for when the ACD hands out their list every week of who they want either dead, alive, either one. But I take into consideration of names my dad used to work with."

His last words took Seungcheol by shock. “Used to work with?”

Jeonghan sighs, leaning the back of his head on the wall. “When I was small, my father died. I didn’t question it because I didn’t understand it. Later, it turned out that my dad was killed on the job. He was a good man who got tangled with the bad world. I found his journals. Filled with regret, he couldn’t find an out. The only out was him dying. So, they killed him.”

“They… As in?”

“My dad used to launder money for Spade.”

Out of all the surprises Jeonghan seems to lay on him, this one took the cake.

Spade incorporation is one of the most profitable company to date. The stocks in comparison to every other company were overwhelmingly high. They dealt with finance and investments. It’s no surprise that somehow, they were tangled in a dirty business. At least one bounty hunter from each contractor had an encounter with a supposed Spade crook. But there’s absolutely no proof to pin anything on them. The ACD has been on their trail for three years, but they’ve come up empty with no solid proof to tie them to any crime. Only to have an Ace of Spades sent to their headquarters.

“I ran into them almost three years ago. I didn’t know it was Spade until this old guy came up to me telling me I look like an old co-worker, he couldn’t remember my dad’s name but remembered my last name. It was my first failed mission.”

“Is that when you started tracking them?”

“No, it wasn’t until a couple of months later when about two million won was transferred into my mom’s bank account, which she used to share with my dad.” The Angel huffed, “I told my mom to report it but she said to never look a gift horse in the mouth. I got Woozi to trace the routing number and it led to Spade. I feel like it was compensation for killing him, but I still have no proof. And Lai was one of my leads, then you killed him. Then Ruki was my other lead, then you killed him too! God, I hate you.”

Seungcheol was left speechless once again. How was he supposed to react? He basically killed all Jeonghan’s chances of finding out who killed his father without even trying to. Now he understands. His hatred for him has been growing since that first kill almost two years ago.

"Well... I know I can’t bring them back, but could you at least try to forgive me? I wasn’t trying to get in your way, I was just doing my job. And I really don’t want you to hate me because of it.”

Jeonghan looks up at his comment; the older is smiling at him. "Stop it."

"What?"

"Smiling; you have extremely noticeable dimples."

Raising his eyebrow, he watched as Jeonghan turn to leave his office. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes, you look stupid."

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

When d-day came, they both sat in the rented car, going over their game plan.

“Alright Hotshot, how do you want to do this?” Jeonghan sat in the passenger seat. Seungcheol hates the fact that he couldn’t speak at the moment since Jeonghan had been MIA since their talk the other day to only meet him at the airport, blond.

Blond.

“ACD said we need them alive, so no arms, but I’m pretty sure you can make do without one, right?” The older raised an eyebrow, knowing fully that Jeonghan’s skills without a gun were above average.

Letting a breathy laugh out, he shook his head, “Stella isn’t a quick in and out. If we’re seen carrying her out, that would arouse suspicion. A man carrying a drunk girl? That’s bad. So, you have to get her to lead you out of the bar.”

“Me? Why not you?”

“Aren’t you straight or bi or something?” Earning a nod, he continued, “You’d be more convincing in seducing her. And since her brother is gay, it’ll be easier for me to talk him up and more natural.”

Seungcheol continues to nod agreeing as they climbed out of the car-

“You're gay?”

Chancing him a look as Jeonghan fixed his shirt the collar on his pink dress shirt, and adjusting his glasses, he gave his new partner a look of amusement, “I’m surprised you didn’t know. Given you’re talking to literally everybody about me.”

As they entered the bar Seungcheol follows behind the blond, but decides to test the waters a bit, leaning close to Jeonghan’s ear, whispering, “Why wouldn’t I talk? Considering you’re the hot guy who hates the pining newbie.”

He steps away to find his target, not missing the tip of his partner’s ears turning red.

“Hi there.”

_‘So much easier than I expected.’_

“Well hello to you too,” Seungcheol smiles, flashing his dimples at the woman in front of him. “Do you mind if I buy you a drink?”

“I don’t even know your name,” The girl giggles, beauty radiating.

“Adam Cheng, you?” It was protocol. Or in his case, what his Singapore Passport and ID said. He had a different name for each country. In China it’s Shengzhe, in the Philippines it’s Andrew. A different identity, with a different backstory in every country.

“Stella,”

The girl looked down briefly giving him the chance to look over to his partner, making small talk Brian, Stella’s brother. ' _He works faster.’_

As the night wore on, so did the conversation. It was meaningless flirting and the “get to know each other talk,” Seungcheol was taking it the whole nine yards.

“Well I think it’s charming, you studying here and sending your mom money,” She placed her hand on his arm, “Your girlfriend must take a lot of pride in that.”

There it is, the move.

“I actually don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Not at all.”

“Well that’s good for me then.”

After maybe an hour of small talk, he offered to drive her home. That was until they got to his car with Jeonghan pressed against it with Stella’s brother pinning him to it.

“I could’ve gone my whole life not seeing this,” Seungcheol mumbles looking up at the sky, pleading for whatever God there was to just take him now.

“Bryan, what the hell are you doing?”

Jeonghan pulled away from said boy, feigning shock. “Well this is embarrassing. I should get going.” As he stepped away, he swiftly turned back around, slamming Bryan’s head on the hood of the Jeep while Seungcheol sprayed a good amount of chloroform in Stella’s face, holding onto her limp body.

“Nice.” He praised as they shoved the two bodies in the car.

“The plan worked.” Jeonghan nodded in surprised as he got into the driver’s seat while Seungcheol stayed in the back to make sure they stayed down. “We got our bait. Idiots.”

S.Coups chuckled a bit, removing any hard jewelry, shoes, and cellphones on them, throwing them out the window. They all knew how rich kids are with sketchy parents; paranoid and overprotective, the last thing they needed were trackers. 

“See, I don’t know how The Gentleman did it. Chloroforming a girl felt so wrong.”

“Already attached to the bait Spitfire?”

Rolling his eyes at another nickname Jeonghan made for him he replied, “You think so little of me?”

“A bit. Because bitch is in charge of distributing illegal supplements to minors who don’t want to be caught.”

“She’s a drug dealer?”

“Her brother’s a snitch and told me everything; he kisses like a dog.”

“Again! I could have gone my whole life not knowing!”

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

About an hour away from landing, their two victims woke up.

“Good evening Mister and Miss Wong, You guys are quite the lightweights,” Jeonghan sat in one of the armchairs in the jet. He saw them try to struggle but he knew it wouldn’t do anything. They were handcuffed as well as handcuffed to each other. “Wanna tell me where Papa Wong is?”

“Victor?”

“What the hell is this, where’s Adam?”

Jeonghan, once again, rolled his eyes when Seungcheol returned from the captain’s pit, “S.Coups, your little puppy is looking for you.”

“Victor? Really?” The older sat down next to him.

“I wanted Gwen, but sadly, Desert Fox took that name.”

"What do you need from us?"

"Nothing."

"Everything."

The two bounty hunters looked at each other.

“Please don’t kill us!"

“We’re not going to kill you.”

“Cooperate and we won’t.”

Another glance.

"Angel."

"Coups."

Jeonghan pulled him close to the cockpit before he whispers, "I need answers, we can't just say we need nothing from them."

"No, what they asked us to do was to grab Wong's kids alive, and to use them to fish their dad out of hiding. That's it."

"That used to be it until Bryan told me what his sister does."

"You have no authority. It isn't your call."

That seemed to strike a chord in The Angel. Just when Seungcheol thought that they were getting somewhere. "No. fuck you. This is my call because there are parents out there wondering why the hell their kid dropped dead for no god damn reason. And that reason is cuffed right in front of me, so if you want to protect the bounty, be my fucking guest, but you'll be on the receiving end of this blade."

"This isn't just your case, I hope you know. So instead of deciding on things by yourself, why don't you communicate with me, stop treating me like I'm getting in your way because I'm not. I'm your partner now so get used to it." Seungcheol had enough of Jeonghan back seating him. He knew how to do his job.

Bumping shoulders with him, he walked back to the now bickering siblings.

"What were you thinking getting a bounty hunter to take you home?"

"I didn't know! What about you? Playing tonsil hockey with his partner?"

"He was interested!"

"No, I wasn't." The Angel seemed to have composed himself, taking his seat once again.

"You kiss like a dog," Seungcheol adds.

"Ha!"

"Didn't you say she flirted like a ten-year-old and was extremely predictable?" Jeonghan flipped through their files.

"Pretty much." Ignoring the deflated look the girl gave him, he allowed his “partner” continue.

"Let's cut the fluff. Your brother told me that you're the drug dealer giving kids laced Xanax, making it look like they OD’d?”

“Why the hell would you tell a complete stranger about me?” Stella basically screams. Bryan tried to defend himself, saying how “Victor” was opening up to him and telling him about all his problems, so he felt like he could open up too, “He’s got a fake identity Bryan! Of course his story is fake! What the fuck is dad feeding you, you idiot?!”

“It doesn’t seem that way,” He mumbled. 

“Right now, you both are idiots. Our colleague has been trying to figure out how to pinpoint who distributes the drugs to minors, but now we know it’s you. So, tell me why you do it. Doesn’t you daddy make enough money to keep you afloat? It isn’t about the money.”

“Why on earth would I tell you.”

Bringing his favorite blade to eyesight, he pressed the point of Azrael on her nose.

“I said we can’t hurt her-”

“Because if you don’t, I won’t keep you alive.”

S.Coups was close to exploding, except what Stella did next caught him off guard.

“Do it.” She almost growls, pressing her nose against it, drawing blood, “Kill me. Kill me now.”

Immediately, Jeonghan uncuffs her from her brother, bringing to stand between the two seats. Instead, he handcuffed her hands separately to the armrests, injecting her with an anesthetic, “Thanks for giving me the answer.” Leaving her motionless body in the middle of the aisle.

“Why’d you do that?” Her brother stared.

“She’s a psychopath.” Seungcheol turned to him, “She’s not just a dealer, she likes watching people die. Doesn’t care if she dies either.”

"Oh shit."

Oh shit was right. Because as much as he hated to admit, Jeonghan was right in the end. Jeonghan wasn't the one stepping over the line, it was him.  

 

Arriving back in Korea, Jeonghan and Seungcheol handed them over to Ren and Aaron who took them to ACD headquarters. 

The ride back to Diamond Edge was pretty silent. Seungcheol knew he had to apologize, but he didn't know how to. "Sorry I overstepped but you were being a pretty big dick" wasn't the best way but "sorry I was wrong" was also wrong. 

"I'm sorry." 

He didn't know the words slipped out of his mouth; mostly because they didn't. It was from Jeonghan. Which was extremely out of character, because he’s been the one apologizing all this time.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry. You're right. You're my partner. And just because I hate you, doesn't mean I should stop doing my job. So as your _partner_ , I'm sorry." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (So... If you all can guess the cameo bounty hunters correctly, I'll be extremely impressed)  
> Sorry for any mistakes I made, it'll take a little longer to update next time, so sorry in advance. This wasnt the easiest chapter to write  
> Also thank you all for commenting and supporting! Also, quick shoutout @ Jeonghan_Trash, your comments made my day and made me smile so I just wanted to thank you! I see you sometimes on twitter so it feels good to know you enjoy my stories!


	5. ...Life...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a perspective of what Joshua Hong sees on a day to day bases

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We usually see it in S.Coups pov, so we're switching it up.
> 
> Also there's sprinkles of JiSol everywhere so, be warned

"Will you do it for me?" The woman caressed the side of his face, tilting her head in a sultry fashion.

He wasn't fazed. Instead, he pushed her hair back gently, exposing her neck. In one swift motion, a syringe slid down his sleeve, piercing her neck. 

Pushing herself away from him, she slapped a hand over her neck, "W-what? What the hell did you do to me?"

As the woman stumbled around, Joshua maneuvered his way towards the mirror, straightening up his suit.  _‘Where ever you go, you do it with grace’_ his mother’s voice rang in his head as he dusts off his shoulders.

"You're someone people would call; the lowest society has to offer," He fixed his cufflinks, flashing a gentle smile that seemed oh so harmless, "Ms. Lang, you don't seem to grasp what it means to be a lady, much less a mother. So, when my bounty is marked 'dead or alive' and it's someone like you... I'd much rather have you dead."

Collapsing on the bed, struggling to keep her vision, "You... you're... you're the Gentleman people have been buzzing about."

"Well of course," he scoffed, "I've talked to plenty of people, and nobody would treat you as kindly as I."

The woman struggled to keep herself propped on the bed, eventually, giving into the lethargic state she was being dragged into. She mustered up enough energy to try to threaten him, "Just because I'm gone, doesn't mean things stop, you're not a cop."

"Oh darling. I have everything I need to stop your little sex rings and human trafficking setups." He lifted her stiletto up, ripping off the heel to reveal a USB. "I may not be a cop, but I do work for the people who control them."

He watched as the life slowly drained from her eyes, taking great pleasure knowing someone like her was gone from the earth, "Snake Eyes, you still have access to the security?"

"Yes, my little Gentleman. But I got it only for at least five minutes, so get outta there fast."

Joshua Hong's good at his job. He's trained under American hunters, so the usual bounties were in high-class scenarios. His mom was one of the best in the West. She was known as Madam Chemist. Poisoning anyone people asked of her at the right amount. 

Passing down her love and passion for the hunt to her son, she found that Joshua was a natural. When he shadowed her on the job he'd been praised as the perfect gentleman. And so, he became one.

  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

"Joshy Josh!" A voice echoed through the headquarters.

"Finally! He's back!" Kyla screamed dramatically.

"Who?" Seungcheol took a sip of his coffee. He heard a voice, but no face has appeared. 

"The only person who Joshua actually likes when he calls him Joshy Josh."

Quietly, the said man stepped out of his office, poised and proper as per usual. Smiling as he greeted Seungcheol and Kyla. "I take it Vernon is looking for me?"

"Who-"

Laughter filled the area as Jeonghan walked in with two unfamiliar faces to Seungcheol. Upon entering, they took notice of the other three looking at them. The Angel settled for an eye roll when he saw Seungcheol and decided on walking away towards his office.

"From the iciness, I take it you're S.Coups," the handsome man shook Seungcheol's hand, "I'm Vernon."

"Boo Seungkwan..." the one with round cheeks squinted at S.Coups, "I've seen you before..."

Realization seemed to hit him as well, "You work with the cops, don't you?”

Seungkwan, better known as The Ghost for his elusive nature and hiding in plain sight to gather and throw off the police when they get too close (also since his last name was, in fact, Boo, he’d never admit to it, but they all pretty much knew he enjoyed the correlation).

"Damn... You got me fooled," Seungkwan sighed, "He was at one of the crime scenes as an eyewitness. Damn it! I should have seen past your pretty yet ugly face."

"That's his way of saying you're good," Joshua smiled to reassure him. 

"Don't let the Ghost spook you," he heard Kyla scoff at Vernon’s attempt at a joke from behind them, he didn't have to look to know she was gagging.

"So, what's your alias around here?" 

"Madman," he bowed, "at your service."

Out of instinct, Seungcheol jumped back at the name. 

"Take it you've heard of him?"

"Let's just say I had to get information off of someone who had an encounter with you."

"I'm not that bad." 

"Well, considering he doesn't have his left arm-"

"Dolmok! He's still alive!" 

"It wasn’t Dolmok.”

“Steven?”

Seungcheol shook his head once again. How many people’s arms did he rip off?

Clapping his hand together, he had a triumphant look on his face, “Bet! It was Jade!"

Finally getting the answer right, Madman began doing a little happy dance, which had Seungcheol’s gears turning in his mind. "I'm sorry. You seem really young... how old are you?"

"Twe~nty," he sang as he bounced on his heels with a cheeky smile.

"Go check in with Nana, Chwe. She's started worrying that the ACD might ban you from Taiwan with how long you took." Joshua teased. "Take Boo with you."

"Sir yes sir," he winked before exiting. 

"Don't mind him, the kid didn't have much of a childhood," Joshua shifted through the papers in his hand, "His parents were part of a gang and he was set to take over."

"Wh-" 

"He was ten." Jeonghan appeared again, "One of the retired bounty hunters, Kahi, she brought down the gang when he was fifteen and could of kill Vernon. But instead, they took him in. He was too dangerous to be left on the streets. He was raised to fight, kill and intimidate."

"That's why he's the way he is," Joshua smiled at the sight of Vernon talking animatedly through the windows of the conference room, "It apparently took him a whole year to open up to Kahi. Every time someone would try to get close to him, he'd threaten them with different ways he knows how to torture them. 

"Now look at him," Jeonghan smiled with Joshua, "He was actually scared to turn out like his parents. But he didn't. He's on the opposite side of the field now."

Seungcheol didn't mean to, but he stared. He hadn't seen the blond genuinely smile since they first met. Granted, he didn't know who he was at the time, but his smile was stunning never the less. He'd be lying if he said didn't wish for Jeonghan to finally give him the time of day, but what could he do? The man hated his guts and no matter how hard he tried to make things right, especially in their current situation, where they skirt around each other, there was just no way around it. 

Joshua caught a glimpse of Seungcheol's gaze, he tried to refrain from smiling. If there was something he was completely sure of, was that Seungcheol was extremely attracted to his best friend. 

 

He began monitoring both of their behavior.

"Why do you have surveillance up?"

Joshua jumped in his chair out of shock. Turning around he gave Vernon a quick flick on his forehead for sneaking up on him.

"I'm sorry but you should have seen me coming, it's lunch and I was thinking sushi." Pulling up a chair, he sat and watched the screen. "Who are you watching?"

“Coups and Han. Ever since they got back from their assignment in Singapore they’ve been acting weird. Cheol more so than Han.” Joshua watched his computer screen, displaying the break room. Seungcheol was pouring himself a new cup of coffee when Jeonghan walked in with Chan.

The two locked eyes briefly but Jeonghan ended it once Seungcheol smiled. The smile disappeared as he decided to tend to his coffee instead.

“Oh my God,” Vernon sat a bit closer, “Does he like Seungcheol?”

“He won’t tell me! All he’s admitting to is finding him extremely attractive,” the American sat back in his chair, giving an exasperated look to his… friend? “I’m not his partner anymore so he’s using that as an excuse not to tell me about the mission.”

“Well based on body language, there’s no denying that neither of them knows how to approach each other,” the younger followed Jeonghan throughout the security footage until he got to his office. “If I didn’t know any better, they’re worse than us.”

Joshua side eyed the Madman, “We are not that bad! At least we can speak to each other, they’re hiding that fact behind their ‘hatred’ for each other.”

Vernon scoffed at the statement, resting his arm on the back of Joshua’s chair to look him in the eye, “Well then why don’t you just say yes to a date and we can be a good example?”

If Jeonghan and Seungcheol were playing cat and mouse, he and Vernon were playing a game of tag. Both knew their mutual feelings but chose not to act on them until recently. Joshua wanted to keep a professional relationship while Vernon had no problem asking him out on dates. So, to keep the game up, Joshua pushes his “friend’s” face backward, pointing towards his door, “Leave and don’t come back till you have sushi!”

“Is this considered a date?” Vernon pressed on the subject as he held onto the door frame giving him a gummy smile with an added bonus of finger guns being shot his way.

“Oh my God go!” The Gentleman laughs throwing a paper ball at the retreating figure who narrowly dodges the attack.

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Shua,” Seokmin knocked on the said man’s door, “Can you give me the files from your last assignment in Taiwan? I want to cross-reference to see if she has any other ties in Hong Kong.”

Shuffling through his files behind him, landing in the ‘L’s he pulled it out and was about to hand it to him before quickly retracting his arm.

“Quick question. Have you noticed anything strange going on with Seungcheol?”

DK pondered on the thought. “Nope. He’s been pretty chill lately. But he does spend a lot of time with Woozi,” leaning in closer, as if he was scared someone would hear him, “if you ask me, I think he likes Woozi.”

‘Please tell me everyone else isn’t this clueless…’

Giving up his mini interrogation, he let Seokmin take the file without forgetting their little thing.

“Hey Dokyeom,” he pointed at him as he was leaving, and with a very serious face, “I love you.”

Pointing back as he waltzed out of his office, “No, I love you.”

It was a little banter the two had picked up after a mission they had completed together back when Joshua first started. The two had been going over their game plan in the conference room when Xiyeon and Eunwoo had been near.

“I love you, you’re amazing!” Xiyeon had jumped happily hugging the other girl as she replied with an “I love you too!”

For some odd reason, it had boggled the two men for a moment. “Why do girls always say I love you to each other? Like are they in love with every single friend?”

“Nah, it’s a family type of love, unless you know, they’re gay. But usually, if they’re friends, they say it to show how much they mean to them."

“How come guys don’t say it like that?” Seokmin scrunched up his face, completely puzzled.

“Because when they say it, it’s cute and precious, but when we say it, it isn’t as cute.”

“Then let’s not make it cute,” the taller said with such ease before slamming his hands on the table, giving him a stoic expression. “I love you.”

Cocking an eyebrow, accepting the challenge, “no, I love you.” 

Thus, began their efforts in crushing the stigma that men can’t say “I love you” because it might hurt one’s masculinity. There is no problem, for a man to show their appreciation for another man in that way.

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“MINGYU!” Jeonghan had basically screamed in the office the next day. Joshua watched from Kyulkyung’s desk as the blond ran up to the tan man, jumping on him and clinging to him like a koala.

If there was anything Joshua was curious about his roommate was how he managed to cling to Mingyu’s upper body and not knock him over. Also, the dynamic of their friendship because it consisted of pure bickering and claims of how their personalities clash.

But lo and behold, the tall man hugging him back.

Mingyu and Wonwoo were assigned a bounty in Changsha, thus going MIA for over two weeks.

He began walking casually as if it was normal to have a fully-grown man attached to his torso, and greeting everyone welcoming them back.

Of course, Seungcheol would walk into the headquarters at that same time. He stared at The Angel’s public display of affection along with a couple other people, but unlike the amusement they wore, he had a questioning look on his face.

“It’s normal.” He reassures Seungcheol who tore his gaze from the two to look at him.

“Yeah okay…”

Joshua squinted when his friend walked away towards Nana’s office. For some odd reason, he felt the desire to know more.

Marching straight for the door that was coated red with black streaks and an insane number of elongated eyes, he pulled Vernon up from his couch and dragged him down the hall.

“Is this your way of initiating something with me?” He heard him tease him.

Shaking his head, too lazy to look back at him, “Nope, I’m just going to be utilizing your B.A. skills.”

Backtracking when Vernon pulled on his wrist, he looked at the younger’s enthralled face, “Wanna tell me whose behavior I’m analyzing fist?”

“The fourth most challenging person in Diamond Edge.”

“Challenge accepted.”

This time, Vernon was the one who took Joshua’s hand, leading them towards the room at the end of the hall.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About?” Woozi asks, not bothering to look away from his multiple screens. Looking closer at the monitors, the tech analyst was just emailing Ailee a passive aggressive message about how one cannot simply buy ramen for her every single day just because the supervisor covered for him a couple of times.

Everybody was trained in behavior analysis, it was a required field to learn (except for Woozi since his skills didn’t quite pertain to face to face exchange) but Vernon excelled. The only people who were the most difficult to read was their old Boss, Wonwoo, Nayoung and Woozi himself – which was extremely ironic, but compartmentalizing their feeling was also required and those people were just gifted at it.

“S.Coups.” Joshua closes the door, motioning Vernon to sit on his couch, to get a clear view of Woozi.

“Something wrong with him?”

“Are you two a thing?”

His hands froze on the keyboard. The look of utter disgust was plastered on the shorter male’s face when he spun in his chair, “No?”

“Why is he always in here then?”

“Because he- we’re friends. I help him scope out his assignments.”

“That’s not what DK says.”

“DK’s on crack.” Woozi spat, “Why don’t you and Chwe pester someone else.”

“Since you two are friends, does he talk about Jeonghan?”

“No,” His snake eyes rolled at the question. “Why are you asking about Seungcheol?”

“Because Madman wanted to get to know him better and see if he’d go on a double date with us. That’s why I asked if you two were together, to join.” Joshua made up a story on the spot; something he was trained to do.

“No… sorry to disappoint… now get out of my office.”

Willingly, the two left his office with an unusual hop in their step.

“I wasn’t crazy, right? You saw it too?” The Gentleman whispered, heading back to his office.

“You mean as soon as he mentioned Jeonghan, his foot started shaking? And how he immediately changed the subject back to Coups?”

“He knows something…”

Joshua saw the sly look on the other's face as he leaned over the desk, "So you said something about a date-"

"Vernon No!"

"Yup, should have seen this coming."

  

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Do you have feelings?”

Joshua had enough of beating around the bush. So, in utter desperation, he pushed himself and the other inside a broom closet, with him blocking the door. “I swear if you try to evade I will sedate you.”

“I don’t see you that way man, I’m sorry.”

“Seungcheol.”

The captive went cross-eyed when needle appeared in front of it with the gauge on the tip of his nose. “Feelings for who?” He basically squeaked.

“Jeonghan. Ever since your first mission as partners you two have been acting aloof,” the shorter of the two glared accusingly.

“Listen, Angel is a hot badass man who carries a blade like an accessory. If you _aren’t_ attracted to that, then I don’t know what they’re on.” Seungcheol easily confesses.

Pursing his lips, Joshua caps the syringe and pockets it. It’s not a lie. Almost everybody knew how attractive Jeonghan is; he had this allure to him that drew everyone in, and in some cases, they got trapped. Glancing over to Seungcheol, the American smiles inwardly _‘Exhibit A.’_

“And plus, we argued during the mission. But then he apologized,” Seungcheol slumped against the shelf as if just finally realizing what went down. “As my partner only. Not as himself. Still… it was… it was a moment.”

That’s how Joshua got his answer. The look on Seungcheol’s face said it all; the slight upturn in his lips, the faraway look he held, and the eyes that looked at the floor softly. If the man in front of him didn’t have feelings before, he was sure as hell getting them.

So, to understand the entire weight of the situation, he did the only other thing he could do.

“Do you have feelings?”

He shoves Jeonghan into the bathrooms and locking them in an hour after his confrontation with Seungcheol.

“I _feel_ violated!” The Angel pressed his hand against his chest for a dramatic effect.

“For S.Coups. Do you have feelings for S.Coups.”

Jeonghan stared back at him expressionless, that was until he broke out into a fit of laughter. “Me? Have feelings for Hotshot?”

“Well do you?”

“That guy is a fine piece of ass I’ll give him that. There’s just no way I could have feelings. I don’t have time for that shit, especially since… you know.”

“But his first day you told me-”

“Forget what I told you,” he snapped. “He’s hot. That’s it. Now, are you going to let me out?”

"You’re full of bullshit Han.”

“What happened to your ‘No cursing at work’ rule,” he mocked him, “Keeping shit professional right?”

“We’re in a fucking bathroom and this is a personal issue,” Joshua snapped. In all honesty, the latter was only this snippy with Jeonghan, “I can curse you out in thirteen different languages and you wouldn’t be able to understand three of them.”

Jeonghan scoffed at the statement, “Only because you were literally in the Western countries.”

“Well, I’ll do it with no problem.”

“Why are you so hell-bent on S.Coups anyway?”

Being the only one who could challenge Jeonghan and maybe win an argument, Joshua stood his ground, crossing his arms over his chest, “I don’t know. Are you going to break his heart?”

“Depends,” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow up, mimicking the other’s stance, “Only if he makes it easy.”

“Jeonghan.”

“I can’t help it if people want me Shua.”

“Yeah but I don’t want _you_ to get hurt this time.”

“Don’t you remember,” Jeonghan rolls his eyes, pushing past him, “I’m the heartbreaker.”

Joshua sighs, for some reason he just knew that Seungcheol was different. That he could be the one to hurt Jeonghan. And oddly, he wanted him to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might take a little longer to get out since I have an exam next week.  
> Things will be explained more in the next chapter  
> I just recently started using my twitter account again so if you want to follow me, its @HVCHW3  
> Thanks to everyone for reading and sorry for the short chapter, it's only ~3000ish, but promise next one will be longer! Till then!


	6. ...Would be boring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeonghan's POV and some background info

**_July 24 th, 2016_ **

“I will kill this guy.”

Jeonghan storms into the headquarters, throwing his blazer to the side. An eager Joshua, followed behind trying to calm him down.

“You don’t even know the guy.”

“This is the second time he’s taken my mission! Who the hell is this S.Coups?”

Joshua was still pretty new to Diamond Edge, so when another mission fails with his partner, it isn’t the most ideal situation.

The Angel sighs as he sits at a random desk. It’s been almost eight months since the last time he’s seen this ‘S.Coups’ guy’s name. And once again, it had to be on one of the most important cases to him.

Feeling an arm wrap around his shoulder, he seemingly relaxed. “Jeonghan are you okay?”

Looking up, the bobbed-hair man released a content sigh, “Yeah, I’m fine… Thanks Baekho…”

Placing a light kiss on the crown of his head, Baekho gave his shoulders a squeeze before heading towards his office.

The two had been dating for a couple of months, maybe a little before Joshua arrived at the company. All he knew was that they were the talk of the office since everybody seemed to love them together. He never showed the grimaces when his boyfriend showed public display of affection.

But he made Jeonghan happy. At times. Sometimes it was overbearing when he’d hover over him during assignments. Baekho also pried. A lot. Jeonghan was someone who repressed his emotions, taking care of other people first, so when his boyfriend tried to pry him open like a clam, it’d always cause some sort of argument.

Like when he asked why these missions were so important.

“I said it’s none of your business!” He had slammed his pen down on his desk. Baekho had taken the initiative to let himself in Jeonghan’s office to talk about the matter at hand.

“If Joshua knows, why can’t I?

“He’s my partner!”

“I’m your boyfriend!”

“And what does that matter right now?”

Okay, so Jeonghan wasn’t the best boyfriend. Baekho was an attractive man who asked him out, and him being open to any situation he said yes. So, they dated. Nine months into the relationship and Jeonghan still felt absolutely nothing for the other.

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

 

**_July 25 th, 2016_ **

Placing a beer bottle in front of his new roommate, he popped the bottle open with his blade.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Jeonghan simply shook his head, taking long sips from his beer. “Nothing to talk about. He broke up with me.”

"You good?"

"Honestly? Never better."

 

   ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

__

_**May 12 th, 2017** _

Jeonghan by nature is a level-headed person. It’s his selling point. He gets along well with people. So, when people begin whispering behind his back about God knows what, he sticks his nose in it; he’s a curious person by nature as well.

“What new recruit?” 

Mingyu turns with a sly smile plastered no his face. “Apparently, a Hunter went rogue and left the company and Nana has been trying to recruit him.”

“What do you think about these turn events?” Seungkwan, one of the younger Bounty Hunters questioned him.

“I mean, if Nana wants him in, then he’s gotta be good, right?” He shoved his hands in his bomber jacket, “Besides Pinky and Xiyeon, Shua were the last to be recruited.”

He figured the odd behavior was due to the rumors floating around about him; the one where he and Baekho got back together. It wasn’t true. They were more like each other’s stress reliever.

“Angel! I need a favor.” Nana knocked on his office door later that night. “I want you to take over someone’s mission.”

“Whose?”

“S.Coups.”

Already grabbing his weapons, he didn’t need any type of convincing or any more information. “Done. Who needs to be dead?”

“His name is Lenetti, he’s got a shipment of armed goods coming in at Gangnam tonight. Get there before S.Coups and your reward-”

Loading his gun, he laughs at his boss’s assumption, “I don’t need a reward.”

 

When he arrived at the warehouse, there was about ten people working. Hooking up the silencer on his hand gun, he slowly pulled out his blade from the strap on his leg. He waited in the shadows, for the chance to get at least two out of the way.

Stepping further into the darkness when he heard footsteps. Shooting one of them in the head, the other panicked searching for the source. The goon walked towards Jeonghan’s general direction when he took the opportunity to drive the blade right into the man’s chest. Both collapsing silently.

Deciding it was better to head to the side than stick around, he hunched down, avoiding any windows as he wiped Azrael clean with a black cloth. Adjusting his position, he crouched under a broken window, glimpsing in to see what was waiting for him.

A couple of the men were in a slight frenzy when Lenetti seemed to be yelling at them; apparently already discovering the dead bodies.

Ducking down from sight again, he hid behind a couple of metal barrels, knowing all too well that he just sent out three more men to find him. Taking his chances, he darts to the back of the warehouse where a broken screen was waiting for him to crawl through. Dusting off his white slacks, he proceeded go behind the crates full of ammunition.

Jeonghan looks around, there are two men still loading the weapons in the boxes while the other two were by Lenetti’s side. One was missing.

_‘Fuck…’_

Slowly, The Angel turns around to face the muzzle of the gun pointed at him. The grip was unconventionally unstable and shaky, so much that he knew he had nothing to worry about. Mostly because the person on the other end seemed to be his age, but very much lacking in skill.

“Do you want to stay alive? Because I’ll save you,” Jeonghan whispers, “What’s your name?”

“D-Dean.”

“Listen, Dean, put the gun down. I won’t hurt you alright, I know what your dad is okay? You just want a normal life, right?” The bounty hunter slowly takes a hold of the other’s gun, still keeping an eye on the people in the front of the warehouse. The three men had returned so now his problem just increased again.

Dean nodded, “Who are you?”

“I’m The Angel,” he cocked both guns, “Now keep low.”

Jeonghan stood, firing two bullets out of each gun, respectively hitting the men closest to the automatic weapons, before firing another round at the men closest to Lenetti, hitting two more. Rolling out of the way, his only concerns were Lenetti, his son, and one more man.

Effortlessly shooting a bullet into the last man’s chest, he yanked Dean in front of him when Lenetti pointed a gun at him.

“Would you really kill your own son?”

“And who might you be?”

The Angel scrunched his nose before firing a warning shot.

“God sent.”

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

_**May 13 th 2017** _

“What do you mean you’re not going to wait for me?” Jeonghan all but yelled in his phone. On his way to work, he took the wrong turn, leading him in the middle of traffic.

“Listen, on any other day, I’d love to just sit around in my car, and wait for you to get here,” Josh said through the speaker, “I told you to carpool today but you said no. Plus, I want to meet the new recruit; Fox set up a meeting so I don’t wanna be late.”

“But I’m almost there- Hello?”

Tossing his phone on the passenger seat in frustration, he could almost see the parking garage but sadly, someone had to go and rear-end the person in front.

Jeonghan was actually anticipating the new recruit. Although he didn’t show it as much as the others, there had to be something special about this one.

Rushing inside the elevator, he almost forgets to scan his card. Just as the elevator opened, he ripped off his face mask and hat, shoving them in his back pocket before finally entering the conference room.

“Jeonghan!”

“Sorry I’m late, there was an accident on my way here-” he finds his voice caught in his throat when he sees a new face sitting next to his partner.

_‘………….’_

Realizing he froze up for a second, his brain kick-started once more, “Oh hi! You must be new here!”

"I'm Seungcheol, it's nice to meet you."

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you," Jeonghan shook his hand, giving him his brightest smile.

"You all are Satan’s spawns," Woozi’s voice seemed distant, but it was still clear.

The moment Nana opened her mouth, explaining that the man whose hand he was still holding, was none other than S.Coups, Jeonghan could pinpoint the exact millisecond that his brain re-wired itself to press him up against the window. Everything in him said to pull the trigger. But in reality, the gun was still empty from last night.

So when he finds himself suddenly underneath S.Coups, he feels nothing but anger. Angry that this guy was able to throw him off.

After Chan and Joshua peeled the two away from each other, the room was filled with empty threats and sarcastic comments on his behalf.

"I'm sorry that you're a piece of shit!" Jeonghan spat as he stormed out of the conference room. He ignored Kyulkyung's and Xiyeon's concerned looks as he pushed past Rena and JR. slamming the door behind him, he pulled his dagger from its hiding place in his sock and threw it at the wall. Narrowly missing Joshua as he walked in, not even flinching. 

"I told you, you wouldn't kill him," he tried to lighten the mood. The American watched as his best friend slid down the wall, ending up sitting on the floor. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know the new recruit was going to be him."

"But everyone else knew. I hope I gave a good show." He let out a dry laugh. 

"We'll ask DK to send it to us later." Sliding down next to his best friend, Joshua nudged his shoulder against Jeonghan’s, “You don’t look like someone’s who’s met their worst enemy.”

“Baekho and I have been sleeping around for the past couple of months and I have been extremely happy with that.”

Giving him a puzzled look, he couldn’t figure out how that related to anything. “Yeah, I know. I give him toast on his way out sometimes, I know you guys are content with life.”

Stretching his arm up, grabbing his weapon from its spot on the wall, he decided to fling it on the other side of his office where a bunch of other holes was. “Then please tell me why the first thought that came to my mind when I saw S.Coups was that ‘I gotta end everything with Baekho,’?”

 

   ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

 ** _Mat 22 nd 2017_** 

_'His hair is pushed back. He's wearing all black. I'm going to choke myself.'_

Jeonghan stared angrily at the man in the conference room. He was currently sitting on Kyulkyung's desk waiting for his files to be printed while sharpening his blade.

"Han you're doing it again," he best friend waltzed towards him, leaning against the desk as well.

"What?"

"Brooding," Kyulkyung returned with a stack of papers, "Just because your team minus Shua are dumb as rocks, doesn't mean we don't notice."

"Oh my god yes," Roa wheeled herself over, "You're so into newbie it's not even funny."

He paused sharpening his blade, "Do you want me to whoop your ass when we spar tomorrow? Because I'll do it."

"Yikes," she bit into her cracker harshly, "Looks like I struck a nerve..."

He continued to sharpen his knife and glare at the man in talks through the window only to sadly shove it back in the scabbard hidden in his socks when Seungcheol pointed him out to Nana. 

"What's the big deal anyway?" Both Joshua and Kyulkyung rested their elbows on his shoulders. "I know those cases were important, but it seems like you hate him more than you should."

"I hate him because he took my cases and I'm supposed to be making his life hell, and _every time_ I try to say shit to him, I can't!"

"It's because of his eyes man," Nayoung handed Kyulkyung a cup of yogurt, joining the group in staring at Seungcheol. "I was talking to him in the lounge and I have never looked into eyes that black. But don't get me started on his voice.”

Kyulkyung fawned as well earning another hiss from Jeonghan, “I’m not into S.Coups, I want to drive a knife, into S.Coups.”

“Just admit that you’ve got a crush on him,” Joshua leaned over taking the bite of Yogurt the Chinese trainee was offering.

“Admit that you’re in love with Hansol.”

When Jeonghan received a choke as a response, he hopped off the desk, taking the spoon and Yogurt cup out her hands, much to her displeasure, “Thought so.”

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

 

_**June 3 rd 2017** _

In all honesty, he doesn’t really remember saying anything. He remembers being immensely tired after an assignment. He remembers Joshua struggling to get him inside the car, he also remembers sleeping on the couch because his bedroom was too far and his door was too heavy to push open.

“I did not!”

“Yes, you did,” his roommate hands him his cup of coffee, “You said, and I quote ‘I wanna fucking stab you’ then pushed him, and continued to walk away.”

“I couldn’t have been that tired.”

“You technically haven’t slept in two days dude, I don’t blame you. But it’s very clear that you’ve even convinced your unconscious to hate him too! Congrats!”

Jeonghan groaned a bit. Only to Joshua will he ever admit that, yes, he is attracted to Seungcheol. Yes, he kind of wishes he’d stop spurring death threats at said man. He didn’t realize the extent of his word vomit until Nana pulled him into her office.

“Babe.” His boss started off softly. It was a little pet names Nana gives to her hunters which makes him enjoy working with her a little more.

“Yes Babe?”

“You gotta tone down the death threats." 

Lifting his hands in defense, “I can’t help it.”

“Han, you can’t kill him.”

“He’s hot. And he took my kills,” He deadpanned.

Nana’s eyebrows flew up in the sudden confession. “Oh?”

“So, I want to kill him.”

Licking her lips, she nodded in understanding, “I’ll allow you harmless inflictions of pain and sparring time, stop throwing Azrael at him and stop-” she whips out the picture Seungcheol had given her of himself with bullet holes in it. “Using his face as target practice." 

Giving her an odd look, he took the piece of paper in his hands, “This wasn’t me.”

“He found it in the firing booth with Woozi…”

“I haven’t been in the practice room since my case in Laos two months ago, to be honest,” His fingers run over the bullet holes on his forehead and nose, how could someone ruin a really good picture and waste expensive ink?

Almost immediately after leaving Nana’s office, he makes his way to the only person he could think of who’d do this because to his knowledge, everybody in the office loved everything about Seungcheol, from his personality to those stupid dimples on his face. Except one.

“Did you do this?” Holding up the tattered paper in front of the man’s face, “Because Nana thinks I did it.”

“Ran out of target paper,” Baekho shrugs, sipping his coffee. “Didn’t think you’d mind, since you know, you say you hate the man.”

Closing the door behind him, he glared at his ex, “What is your problem?”

“My problem is that I know the look you give to someone when you’re interested. Your friends may be clueless but I know, you gave me those looks before.”

“So, you’re shooting his face because you think I’m interested?”

“I know you are because if you weren’t, you wouldn’t have ended our set up two days after he arrived.” Baekho snapped, “He took your missions. You wanted him dead. You hated him so much because he took those kills, but now?”                                                                                                

“Are you seriously jealous of someone I hate right now?”

“Stop fooling yourself, it’s sad to watch.”

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

_**June 13 th 2017** _

It really was sad to watch because as he slipped yet another “I’m sorry, please stop hurting me note” in his bottom drawer with the others, he entered the conference room, completely aware of what they were meeting about.

“Cheol what do you think?”

Not being able to control his curiosity, he turned around anticipating an answer. It made him slightly uncomfortable having Seungcheol judging his previous looks; self-conscious almost.

“The long hair was nice but I actually prefer what he looks like now.”

Sitting up straight, feeling blood rush to his ears, there was a pounding in his chest. The pounding increased when he locked eyes with said boy, who decided to smile his way among all the mess.

He wasn’t able to hold eye contact any longer, so he turns around in his chair, closing his eyes to calm himself down from whatever the boy made him feel, and just sighed. Jeonghan wasn’t about to let him step into his life and ruin it like that. That was his job.

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

_**June 15 th 2017** _

“Predictable, now aren’t we?”

Something inside him ignited. Unsure if it was rage, annoyance or if he was turned on by the latter’s deep voice. Somewhere within the next couple of minutes, he realized that he was in fact, turned on, especially now when he found himself underneath Seungcheol. Because wow, he knew the older could fight, but his moves were more impressive than they say.

“This is a good view.”

 _‘Honestly, fuck me.’_ Jeonghan’s eyes twitched up at him, annoyed. Seungcheol had tried to help him up, but out of frustration he swatted the hand away from him, “Might hate you but that was a good fight,” biting his tongue he realized he had, in fact, said that out loud. In an attempt to cover his tracks, he threw in “dick head” to downplay the unintentional compliment.

Rushing into the locker room, he all but punched the wall to try to get a grip on reality. “Only attraction. It’s only attraction. It’s only attraction.”

Because if it wasn’t just an attraction that meant that there was interest as well. And that was something he didn’t need.

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

 

_**August 20 th 2017** _

One of the cons to working for somebody is that Jeonghan has to follow everything they say; even if he doesn’t want to do it. But he couldn’t do anything other than follow orders, still allowing himself to tell Nana how displeased he was.

Sharpening Azrael, he sat against the edge of the roof watching as Soonyoung stared at his watch and Minghao and Jun arguing about Jun’s overprotective nature.

“You could have gotten hurt. I could have handled it myself Junhui.”

“And taken another bullet? I don’t think so.”

This is why Jeonghan doesn’t do relationships in his line of work. The fear and the concern to stay safe and be alive is put at a higher stake when involved with another person. He remembered how he was unable to breathe when Baekho would constantly watch him like a hawk as if he was a fragile piece of glass waiting to be smashed. He hated that feeling.

“Two minutes, let’s move,” Soonyoung ordered. Placing his hat back on his head, he twirled his blade, completely prepared to scare the shit out of stuck-up contractors who’ve never been out in the field.

“Why are we here again?”

“Desert Fox was told that the rankings were moved, so Phantasia decided to take extra precaution in case the other contractors decided to try to go against the top two.”

“Where're Starship’s people?” Jeonghan looked around as soon as they got into the employee area. “I know Phantasia’s people are inside, but I haven’t seen Minhyuk or even Bora.”

“They’re one of the ones who we’re protecting Ren and Coups from,” The8 whispered as he slipped into the casino.

Protecting Seungcheol. Great.

Opting to walk in normally, he assumed that the tension was already high, the best possible time to go unnoticed. Casually striding towards to table, he pressed the tip of Azrael to his other finger, as if he was choosing who to hold captive. Jeonghan had to admit he found the situation hilarious with a bunch of men in suits frozen and at the mercy of only two contractors. He almost laughed at how fast some said sorry to get Soonyoung to back off only to have fear rush through their body when Jun popped up from under the table.

Overhearing Phantasia’s representatives aim some harsh words about Tempest to a man on the other side of the table from them, he decided on his target. He caught the eye of Whisper, a new bounty hunter. Giving her a little wave before placing a finger to his lips, she nodded in compliance. Jeonghan knew the bounty hunter personally; Yuju was the name she gives, even if he knows her real name, they’ve become acquaintances through mutual friends.

Tracing the tip of Azrael on the back of his suit, The Angel saw the man before him flinch as he made two horizontal and two vertical intersecting lines. Looking to his left, he nods his head at Minghao who had a man at his mercy, spinning a gun like it was a toy. The Chinese man mouthed an ‘O’ so, Jeonghan drew an ‘O’ in the middle of the lines.

If there was anything Jeonghan enjoyed most, it was to make sure all the attention was on him when he spoke, so to pass time, why wouldn’t he play tic-tac-toe on a man’s back?

“You have anything else to say about Diamond Edge?”

As the room grew quiet, Jeonghan pressed the blade harder against the man’s spine, “Am I allowed to have this one?” He asked innocently as if he was a child asking his parents for a new toy.

He heard Seungcheol coo in his presence, making his roll his eyes. S.Coups has been doing that as of recent, finding any given time to tease him.

As the small talk grew, Jeonghan sighed once more, “Can I kill him please?” He almost pouted towards Phantasia’s representatives. “He gave us S.Coups.”

Ren continued to make a proposition with the group of men as Seungcheol stood behind him, clad in a leather jacket and an iron rod in hand. Jeonghan convinces himself he’s only looking because he’s zoning out and wanted something nice to look at. Until Seungcheol took notice giving him a sly wink.

Jeonghan chose to ignore the gesture, annoyed that he had the balls to even do that.

 

All he wanted to do was go back to his office and rest at this point, but that didn’t seem like an option when Jun ran in, giving him a new assignment. “Pinky didn’t want to give it to you.”

“Why? We talked this morning,” He gave the Chinese man a skeptical look opening the file, “I thought we were- WHAT THE HELL!”

_S.Coups and the Angel._

Storming out of his office, he smashed the elevator button, enraged. Why would Nana do this to him? Once they reopened he headed straight for the training room where he found her sparing with JR.

“What is the meaning of this? Why am I flying to Singapore with him?” Jeonghan almost threw the file at them.

“You can’t be Gentleman’s partner forever babe, he’s about to hit his two-year mark, I want him to branch out,” He huffs between every strike.

“So, what he’s just going to go solo for every assignment now?”

“Nope,” She roundhouse kicked the padded man, “I’m assigning him to Madman then DK. Afterward, we’ll see who he stays with.”

Jeonghan’s jaw nearly dropped, “You’re giving him to Hansol? What! Couldn’t you have assigned the Blacksmith to him and not me?”

Taking a break, The Angel tossed her the water bottle next to him along with the towel. “Han, S.Coups is good at his job and his hits are right up your alley. You’ll be fine.”

“How come Mingyu and Wonwoo get to stay together then? They’ve never branched into different fields.”

“They do all fields and they came to Diamond Edge together. Your new assigned partner in S.Coups and that’s final. You’re going to Singapore, get the Wong kids and bring them back here alive. Do you copy?”

Reluctantly, he nodded.

 

   ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

_**August 25 th 2017** _

Be berated himself. How soft is he getting? Why did he go and allow himself to spill almost every single detail about his father to Seungcheol?

“You look royally annoyed,” Joshua vigorously tapped on his phone (he was playing Pokemon) and he sat with aluminum foil in his hair. “Maybe you should stop dying your hair. It’s tampering with your brain.”

“You know how it goes; new hair, new chapter,” Jeonghan sighed flipping through The Order of Phoenix yet again.

“Does this chapter include Seungcheol since he’s your partner now?”

Taking a piece of foil from the hairdresser, he crumpled it and threw it at his best friend’s face.

“You’re acting like you didn’t spill all the details about your dad to him. That’s not common knowledge.”

It was true. He semi-lied when he told Seungcheol everyone knew about his dad. They knew he died, but they didn’t know he worked with Spade and was killed because of it. The only people who knew were Joshua (so by extension Vernon knew) and Nana and now Seungcheol.

“He’s my partner now. Just because Ace knows doesn’t mean he’s special.”

“No yeah of course not.”

Joshua wasn’t convinced.

 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

 

_**August 27 th 2017** _

To say Jeonghan wasn’t thrilled at the reaction he got from Seungcheol when he saw the bleach blond hair was a lie. I loved the attention and basked in it. Especially when Hotshot decided to play dumb.

“You’re gay?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t know. Given you’re talking to literally everybody about me.”

Jeonghan smiled to himself knowing he caught Seungcheol in the act. Jun had taken the pleasure of telling him all about the older’s questions dealing with the Angel and how everybody found it endearing.

But his enjoyment came to a screeching stop when he felt his new partner’s hot breath behind his ear. “Why wouldn’t I talk? Considering you’re the hot guy who hates the pining newbie.”

_‘PINING?’_

Cursing his body’s reaction, he felt his ears heating up. His gaze lingering on his partner’s back as he disappeared into the crowd of people. “Fuck him.” The blond hissed, shoving his way to the bar where luckily, he found his own target.

Ordering himself some scotch, fixing himself to get his story aligned in his head. Slumping down onto the seat next to Brian, he sighed out a thanks when the glass was placed in front of him.

“You good?”

He looked over his shoulder, “Rough day.”

“Tell me about it.”

The two fell into a simple conversation, occasionally dropping compliments about one another, the usual bar talk. Sadly, Brian seemed to be a bit more perceptive than he thought because for twenty minutes Jeonghan had been glancing across the bar at Stella and Seungcheol.

“Why do you keep looking over at my sister?”

Truly shocked by that question, his eyes widened a bit, “Oh… That’s your sister?” he feigned confusion, trying to come up with a story on the spot, “Well… To tell you the truth, your sister is talking to my best friend.”

“Oh? You want me to call them over so we can all talk-”

“No! Please don’t,” Jeonghan’s story finally clicking in his head. “If I’m going to be completely honest, I’m kind of in love with him and I’m here to hopefully get over him because he’s well… you know.”

He saw the pity in his bounty’s eyes when his sentence was finished. Everybody can empathize with the unrequited love with a best friend. “Seems like we aren’t too fond of the people on the other side.”

“How so?” Jeonghan quipped, intrigued by the fact that he seems to be angry at his sister.

“A story for a story,” Brian took another shot, “You tell yours and I’ll tell mine.”

Huffing out of frustration, he tried to mask it with the sadness Victor Kim was supposed to feel. “There’s not much to tell. We’ve worked together for a bit. I’ve had my fair share of hookups but I just can’t seem to fess up and admit it. It’s easier to lie to my colleagues that I don’t have feelings because there’s just no possible way you know? But with someone who barely knows me, I guess it’s easier to fess up. He’s the kindest person, yet he’s really good at what he does, he has so many sides to him that I only want to know, but there’s just a big risk you know?”

“You must have mad feelings for this guy.”

“You have no idea,” He whispered, downing his drink before laying his head down on the counter, “I feel like I’m doing a good job not making it obvious.”

Brian has most likely been drinking long before Jeonghan got there since he seemed already so out of it, “My sister’s a drug dealer for kids. She’s an ass, so it isn’t as sad as your story, but it still sucks.”

Jeonghan’s eyes flew open at the inadvertent confession. Tuning out everything else the useless bounty went on about.

 

"If he were talking to you about his problems you would have been convinced! His hurt seemed so real!"

"He’s got a fake identity, Brian! Of course his story is fake! What the fuck is dad feeding you, you idiot?!”

“It doesn’t seem that way,” He mumbled. 

Jeonghan swallowed at Brian's statement. It's all for show. Every single bit of his story was fake. Maybe he even thought it was real for a second.

 

Slamming the door closed, he counted to five before Joshua appeared from his room with a small towel wrapped around his neck. “Talk to me.”

Jeonghan stared at his best friend not knowing where to start. He didn’t know what to tell him. Giving Joshua a look that screamed, “I need help!” Jeonghan ended up turning and headed towards him room to wallow in his own self-pity. Because he’s Yoon fucking Jeonghan; he doesn’t catch feelings. He’s one of Diamond Edge’s top hunters with one of the highest body counts, he didn’t have time to give his heart away, he’s the one who breaks them.

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

_**September 3 rd 2017** _

“Wonwoo scared the shit out of him, it was hilarious,” Mingyu laughed on Jeonghan’s couch in his office. The blond laughed along next to him, completely amused at the story; oh how he missed his ray of sunshine.

“Well I’m glad you two are back, it was a long assignment,” Jeonghan squeezed the taller’s knee.

“Speaking of being back,” Mingyu’s voice became a bit serious, “I know you ended things with Baekho, and I waited a while before asking but is there any possible way you’d say yes to a date?”

Jeonghan’s smile softened. Call him shallow, but one of the downsides of being attractive is that even if he can control who he can be with, he can’t control who falls for him no matter any circumstances. Sadly, Mingyu had. Jeonghan loved the man to the moon and back, but he just wasn’t someone he had an ounce of feelings for.

“Gyu, I really don’t feel the same way. I’m sorry.”

The blond hates himself and will never forgive himself for breaking Mingyu’s heart. Especially since it all started as a game. Jeonghan had the skill of drawing people to the point where they couldn’t turn back, before crushing their heart. For the most part, it was unintentional. But somewhere along the way, he enjoyed the attention and the chase so he never thought to stop.

He backed out of the game once he realized he was affecting one of his closest friends but it was too late. Mingyu was the last guy he’d drawn in before dating Baekho and he felt awful because he didn’t intend on having someone so close to him fall for him. It’d be like if Joshua were to fall for him; everything would be messed up.

Thankfully for Jeonghan, Mingyu wasn’t the butt-hurt type of guy and still loved Jeonghan as the best friend he was. For that, Jeonghan couldn’t be more thankful. Although there were times when Mingyu would sporadically ask, to only get a polite decline.

“It was worth a shot,” Mingyu let a small laugh escape his lips, “But still let me take you out. For a welcoming me back to Korea celebration.”

“Deal.”

 

He wanted to do was go back into the office and take a nap. Was that so hard to ask of the world? But no! He was forcefully pushed into the bathrooms by his supposed best friend and roommate, successfully locking them inside.

“Do you have feelings?”

“I feel violated!” He exaggerated his gestures.

“For S.Coups. Do you have feelings for S.Coups?”

The question definitely caught him off guard before bursting into a fit of laughter, denying the preposterous statement. The man’s attractive, but feelings? Joshua’s insane.

“But his first day-”

_“Then please tell me why the first thought that came to my mind when I saw S.Coups was that I gotta end everything with Baekho?”_

“-you told me-”

“Forget what I told you. He’s hot. That’s it. Now, are you going to let me out.” Jeonghan hissed all too quickly. Of course he knows what he said to Joshua. And now he regrets it because it was stupid and before he knew who he really was.

“You’re full of bullshit Han.”

Jeonghan tried hard not to flinch at his words. The only time he’d use this kind of tone was when they were on a mission and The Angel was getting too ahead of himself. But right now, they weren’t on a mission, they were talking about feelings and he just thought it was ridiculous.

He tried to banter it off with him but Mr. Gentleman seemed too determined on the topic. “Why are you so hell-bent on S.Coups anyway?”

“I don’t know. Are you going to break his heart?” Joshua left it at that but Jeonghan knew better that there was more to that question. _‘Like you did with Minhyuk, Baekho, Mingyu, Taehyung and the others, right?’_

“Depends. Only if he makes it easy.” It’d be a lie if he didn’t notice Seungcheol’s interest. Because in the end, he could have Seungcheol wrapped around his little fingers. “I can’t help it if people want me Shua.”

“Yeah but I don’t want you to get hurt this time."

His eyes rolled. If Jeonghan wasn’t notorious for his track record than not catching feelings would be his greatest accomplishment.  “I’m the heartbreaker.” He declared as he strides out the door.

It was downright disrespectful that Joshua thought that he of all people would get hurt by a newbie partner. Sure, as much as he took pride in not having any emotional attachments to a romantic partner, he didn’t really intend on becoming the heartbreaker. Maybe he was scared to admit it, maybe it was a subconscious thing, but maybe, just maybe, he was trying to find someone who would break his heart. Because if he did find that someone, then he’ll know he still is human.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took longer than expected. When I can't think of something I write a different AU and it just gets messy. So here! I'll try to update again next week hopefully This one's almost 6000 words so! Please comment what you think so I know if it's good enough. It'll go back to Seungcheol's POV after this. Sorry for any mistakes!


	7. And so it goes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gateway chapter. Short but important ;))

__

 

_**January 22 nd 2018** _

Seungcheol had a limit for a lot of things. He could go on a stakeout for at most four hours, he could play with a dog for a whole day, maybe babysit for three days before he was ready to throw them out of the house, hell, he could go months without talking to someone.

But he didn’t know how long he could work with Jeonghan without exploding.

Was it the constant pestering? No, he was accustomed to that. Maybe it was the reluctance of actually calling him by his name since the Angel had taken a liking to calling him everything besides any of his given names. Possibly the lack of faith, but he was positive it wasn’t that.

“You wanna bang him,” Woozi popped the lollipop out of his mouth.

Lifting his head from the couch, Seungcheol threw the stress ball at his head denying the accusation. That was the wrong answer. Just because his partner was attractive, did not mean he immediately wanted to get him in bed.

The two have been partners for about four months at this point. All their assignments have been successful (granted, Seungcheol pesters him every time because how the hell can he wear something white every time shit gets messy?) and their arguments aren’t bad, but he couldn’t help but shake off the burning desire to scream every single time they get back to the headquarters and Jeonghan says, “Great work Hotshot.”

He didn’t know why he thought to go to Woozi was the best decision, but apparently not since the latter was obsessed with multitasking and not conforming to what people wanted to hear – the shorter male was currently tracking Soonyoung’s whereabouts in the office to see where he hid the other’s cell phone, while playing solitaire and going through bank statements as well as playing therapist for Seungcheol.

“Listen, you’re going to end up in one of four ways,” Woozi spun in his chair, balancing a pen between his nose and upper lip, “Option one, you pretend your feelings don’t exist and try to keep everything extremely professional; for example, me and Hoshi. Option two, you can confront your stupid feelings and act on them with you two ending up together. Like Jun and Minghao.”

Woozi stuck his foot out to stop his spinning so he could finally face Seungcheol properly. “The third way is you end up like Vernon and Joshua. Feelings are acknowledged but they see how long they can go without actually doing anything.”

“And what’s the last?” Seungcheol lazily looked at him.

Pressing the lollipop to his tongue, he rolled it around, “Option four is to bang him. Jeonghan’s unpredictable. Given that we all thought him and Baekho were going to last but it didn’t because well, Han’s incapable of feeling love.”

Seungcheol sat up at the familiar name, “Baekho? Ren’s occasional partner? They dated?”

The shorter drummed his fingers together as if he had uncovered something. “Oh, you didn’t know? The two dated for a while last year. They broke up but were fuck buddies up until… you showed up actually.”

If there was anything he hated at the moment, it was the look Woozi was giving to him, it screamed: “You’re going insane and I know why.”

“I’m not!” The older abruptly stood, letting himself out as he ignored his friend’s laughter.

“You’re not what?”

Seungcheol cursed when he almost crashed into Jeonghan. Just his luck.

“Nothing,” He ignored the other’s curious look before grabbing the file out of his hand, “Is this our case tonight?”

The younger took it back before he could even take a look inside. “No actually… Um… I have a mission with Shua tomorrow afternoon.”

That didn’t sound right. Back to back missions was a whole different story, but last time he checked, he and Jeonghan were partners until further notice. Unless-

“Oh… So…” Seungcheol wasn’t sure where to start, what was he supposed to feel. “Does that mean you’re going back to being partners with Josh?”

The blond shrugged, “Not sure, but tonight’s might be the last for a while. Madman’s gone MIA for about a week and Joshua’s mission is a two-man job.” Jeonghan backed away into his office giving him another unsure look.

Was that it? Was that the end of their partnership? Already? Following him inside, Seungcheol sat down on his couch.

The two had become particularly close. Not necessarily on his and Woozi’s closeness, but enough to have a casual conversation. There was still the constant banter that the two always had, but being together for a while, Seungcheol has definitely noticed a change in behavior.

Their last mission three missions, every plane ride Jeonghan would be out like a light, asleep on his shoulders. Usually he’d still be jacked off of adrenaline but lately, he seems more lethargic.

“Are you okay? You’ve been extremely tired, more so than usual.”

Going over the file, Jeonghan waved him off, “Don’t worry about me Superman, I’m fine, I just need a bit more shut-eye, that’s all.”

“Positive?”

“Yes Captain, now get out of my face, I have to review for our runaway tonight.”

Giving an unsure look to his partner, he left the room.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Jeonghan parked at the dock. Woozi had told them their runaway was hiding out in the shipyard with a bunch of cargo. It was a simple find and capture mission. They’ve done it plenty of times.

“Alright, if you get him, he’s alive, if I get him, he’s dead,” Jeonghan fixed his sweater. It still baffled Seungcheol how his partner could wear such casual clothes that make him look like he wasn’t a trained hunter. “Deal?”

Dusting off his jean jacket he shook hands, “Deal.”

The top five hunters in Diamond Edge had begun a bet a month prior. Seungcheol became tough competition when they saw his body count (captured and killed) surpass Joshua’s.

_“There’s no way you’re not cheating,” Minghao accused the eldest in the room._

_“This will be the first and only time I defend him,” Jeonghan raised his hand, “As his current partner, this bitch’s marksmanship is impeccable. I wish he was cheating.” He ended his compliment with a good smack to the back of the head._

_“That’s bogus! Are his body counts rolling over from Tempest?” Joshua interrogated their boss who was currently distributing their bounty (aka their paychecks)._

_Dropping Vernon’s check in front of him, he began to do a little dance with the slip of paper, obviously happy with this month’s work. “We only rolled over the ones he did when he flew solo.”_

_Sticking his tongue out at them all, Jeonghan grabbed it and pulled it close to his face, squinting at him, “How about a clean slate? We all start off with zero today and we tally up the score. Whoever gets the highest count by this time next year gets ten percent of our rewards for three months.”_

_The other four had perked up at the proposition. Pulling his tongue back from Jeonghan’s hold (why did he have to grab his tongue?) he looked around._

_“I’m in.”_

Ducking down under behind cargo, they saw their perp

He ran up to the Angel, pulling him out of harms way as the rain of bullets flew at his previous spot. Shooting up at the sniper, he got dead center.

“What the fuck man?” Jeonghan tore away from his partner’s hold, giving him one last glare before running after Tristan.

“A simple you’re welcome would have been great too,” he mumbled to himself as he ran after them.

The two bolted down the alley towards where Jeonghan’s car was. Both jumped over the knocked over trash bins and have a clear shot of their runaway. Sadly for Jeonghan, the perp smashed the windows open, climbing into the BMW. He knew once the man tried to start the car he’d find his hidden weapons and he’d finally be armed. “I’m so sorry baby…”

He shot three bullets in the side of the car close to the gas tank, diving behind the dumpsters, protecting him from the blast. Standing, Jeonghan watched as his car went up to flames, successfully killing the runaway _. ‘Thank god it was a dead or alive case.’_ Sending a quick text to Seokmin, he begged him to come to pick them up ASAP, before dealing with his problem.

Turning around, he found Seungcheol running towards him, coming to a halt when Jeonghan gave him a nasty look. “What the hell was that back there?” Jeonghan shoved at his shoulders, “he almost got away because of you!”

Completely ignoring the younger, Seungcheol began to walk past the burning car, towards the road. In retrospect, it was a smart idea since they couldn’t be found near an exploded car. So they – only Seungcheol – walked in silence as they waited for Seokmin’s car. The older tried to ignore the complaints of the other about how they almost lost a mission and how he owed him a new car. Even when Seokmin arrived with Chan, he still went on.

“Does it matter? We caught the guy,” S.Coups unarmed himself, throwing his iron and gun back into the duffle in the trunk of the car.

“But he almost got away! Because you pulled me out of the way!” Jeonghan poked his chest aggressively. “Was it because of the bet? You wanted the count?”

“He had an accomplice that I killed to save your ass, so be grateful.” He slammed the trunk down before sliding into the back seat, ignoring the concerned glances his other colleagues were giving them.

The car ride was silent. Seokmin twiddled his thumbs on the steering wheel while Chan busied himself with his phone (but Seungcheol saw, he was texting in a group chat, probably with Mingyu, Woozi, and Joshua.

He once ate lunch with Mingyu and truth after truth slipped out unintentionally about how they always talk about him. Today was no different.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

Joshua found him in the basement of an abandoned warehouse. Leave it to the Madman to pick the filthiest place to hide out. Exterior wise. Entering the basement, it could have been a whole new headquarters. He found his target typing away on the rather larger computer monitors that resembled Woozi’s room.

“Why are you here alone?”

Immediately, Vernon shut down the screens drawing his gun ready to fire.

“Chill man, it’s me!” Joshua yelled back, his gun out as well, aimed at his partner. He watched intently as Vernon’s face relaxed, putting his weapon away, asking why the other was here.

“You’ve been off the grid for almost two weeks now, people are getting worried. I’m getting worried,” The Gentleman put his gun down on the table as he approached him, “You do this all the time, Fox is getting concerned.”

“She has nothing to worry about, and neither do you,” the younger sighed rubbing his forehead. “I have my own business to take care of. How’d you find me?”

The look on his face said it all as if he was stupid for even asking that question. The answer was always going to be Woozi. “I figured you didn’t go country hopping so you probably stayed in Seoul. I know you didn’t skip town because you hate public transportation and you left your car in the garage. So, I asked him to pull up all known buildings previously owned by Chwe.” His eyes burned into the other’s, “So tell me. Why are you in your parent’s old headquarters?”

“It doesn’t concern you. So don’t worry about it.”

“I’m your partner. You-”

“Am I really just your partner at this point?” Vernon turned it around, “Are we really just going to be colleagues? That’s it?”

“Hansol-”

“Want to know what I’m doing? I’m going through these old files. No, DE did not wipe everything because I have my own server that they didn’t know about.”

Joshua’s jaw slacked. He knew he wasn’t angry, but he definitely felt something. Was it betrayed? “So what? You’re… What are you doing? Are you still running the game? Taking over when the whole reason they saved you was to not end up like your parents?”

“I am not like my parents,” Vernon hissed. “What are you waiting for? You’re itching to rat me out, right?”

His eye twitched. Why the hell was he testing him. “Are you really asking me where my loyalties are right now.”

There was hurt evident in Madman’s eyes, “You don’t trust me…”

“You’re cryptic ‘Sol! Wanna know why I keep shutting you down? It’s because you keep shutting me out! Everybody out! We have no idea what you’re doing or where you’re at! _You_ don’t trust people so how do you expect us to trust you?”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Jeonghan stormed out of the car after the silent ride, while Seungcheol kept his arms crossed. Were they acting like children? Yes. Did they care? No. As soon as Seokmin began to back out of the parking lot, he commanded them to stop, “Stop, I need to yell at him. Leave me here.”

Chan quickly blurted out his apartment number before he stumbled out of the car, ready to give the younger a piece of his mind.

Banging on the door, he waited for it to open, before pushing himself inside giving Jeonghan a hard look.

“I’m not letting you just get off with screaming at me for saving your life,” Seungcheol hissed. “You could have gotten hurt or you could have died.”

“But I didn’t, and the bounty almost got away because you saw what was ideal.”

Wanting to pull his own hair out, Seungcheol pressed his nails against his palm, “This wasn’t about the god damn game! This was about you!”

“I can handle myself, stop worrying about me!”

The difference between everybody that Jeonghan has worked with, is that nobody cared about him as much as Seungcheol did. It wasn’t to the point where it was insufferable like with Baekho, but it was noticeable.

“Well, what do you want me to do? Apologize for pulling you out of the way? Sorry for caring about you? Sorry for wanting to make sure my partner was safe and makes it out alive with me?” The older stepped closer infuriated. “My apologies for not wanting anything bad to happen to you.” He faked sympathy before going back to his glare.

In all honesty, it was a first for Seungcheol too. To be so worried about a partner.

“Why?” Jeonghan’s eyes locked with his, “Why do you care so much about me?”

They stood so close that he could see Seungcheol’s eyes dilating. The gaze on his softened, “Like I said before. I’m the pining newbie.”

The unsatisfactory feeling after every mission, the need to scream into a void. It’s because of Jeonghan. Because every time a mission ends, all he’s wanted to do was celebrate and be with Jeonghan. Hug him. Hold him. Kiss him.

 

Impulse is a crazy thing. Usually, when people are impulsive, they regret their decisions. They feel the dread once they do it. But not this time.

Not when Jeonghan pushes Seungcheol against the front door and kisses him. It feels like the best decision of his life when the searing kiss goes deeper and he feels him kiss back. Regret isn’t even in his vocabulary when he feels the other bounty hunter’s tongue slide effortlessly into his mouth. And he forgets everything that isn’t Seungcheol when he feels his hands travel down, hooking themselves behind his thighs, successfully picking him up.

Seungcheol’s mind goes on autopilot when he feels Jeonghan’s leg lock behind him and his hands tangled in his hair. Everything about this moment screamed “Finally! This is it!”

He kicked the bedroom door closed with his heel, dropping Jeonghan on his bed, ridding both their shirts immediately.

He finally exploded. Because as per usual, Woozi was right.

Option four it is.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry for the wait. It was a hard chapter to write because this was the only chapter I legit had zero pre-written parts for so I had nothing to work around. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and very sorry for any mistakes!! Hope the next chapters are more than 4000 from now on


	8. What Goes up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bored and sad. So here's the next chapter.

He wanted to cry. But he never cries. He wanted to scream, but that’d be extremely out of character. Joshua wanted to do something other than remain silent because he was tired of it. Did he regret confronting Vernon earlier? No. If anything, he just wished he could have reworded what he said to avoid their blow out. Maybe if both had kept their cool, the older wouldn’t have had to sneak back into his own apartment in order not to wake his best friend at five in the morning.

"Morning sleepy head I made – holy shit," Joshua froze in his spot. Frying pan and spatula still in his hands.

"Uh..."

Joshua blinked rapidly. "I..."

"Oh. Hey. I didn’t know you were here…”

"I... I..." Joshua squinted at him and tilted his head to get a better look. He couldn't find the right words; placing the pan and spatula down on the stove, he wiped his hands on his black sweats. "Come here."

Hesitantly, Jeonghan inched toward his best friend as he felt Joshua’s eyes look at him from head to toe.

"You're wearing your smiley face T-shirt," Joshua sized him, "Last time you wore that was when you had your thing with Baekho."

"It's comfy."

The Gentleman’s eye twitched when he didn’t get the response he wanted. "It's a size too big."

"That's what makes it comfy." Jeonghan deflected, refusing to admit that he slept with someone.

“We have a schedule today, right?”

“That we do…”

"You're just wearing boxers."

"Am I not allowed to?"

"But those aren't yours."

"Yes… they are."

"I know you. I do your laundry, and you do not own a pair of Calvin Klein’s," Joshua crossed his arms knowing he favored Ralph Lauren. The rapid-fire questions weren’t going to stop.

Not one to give in, Jeonghan continued to feed the flame. "I just bought some."

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah."

Both continued to stare each other down, neither letting up. Almost mechanically, Joshua smacked an empty paper coffee cup off the table without breaking eye contact. “Oops. Dropped that, can you bend down and pick it up?”

“You dropped it.”

“Come on, don’t be a pain in the ass,” He raised an eyebrow, taking delight in Jeonghan’s offended reaction. But Joshua saw it in his eyes, he wasn't going to admit it. His eyes flickered to his neck before locking eyes with him again.

"Where’d the hickey come from?"

"What?!" Jeonghan slapped a hand over his neck in panic.

"AHA!" He pointed his finger in his face, "There was no hickey!"

Jeonghan hated the mind games they always seem to play. If this was the other way around, he’d be giving the other so much shit as well. Both pros and cons of knowing each other so well. "Why aren't you with Hansol?"

"We got into an argument so now I'm here," he shrugged trying to play it off.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Nah, I'm gonna see him later anyway." 

The two looked at each other. Both knew exactly what was about to happen. But sadly, Jeonghan reacted too late as Joshua ran towards his room to see who his best friend got lucky with.

When the door swung open, he had to shove his fist in his mouth to prevent him from screaming. 

"Coups is in your bed," he whispered as if he wasn’t supposed to say. 

"Yup."

"S.Coups is shirtless in your bed."

"Yeah."

"Coups is in your bed shirtless and you're wearing your sex shirt and he's shirtless and you're wearing his boxers which means he's wearing nothing which means he's still naked," He spoke fast.

“Yup,” Jeonghan puffed his cheeks nodding.

The man in themed began to stir. Neither would admit but they both had a mini mental break down as they tried to shuffle out of the room together, only to have Joshua shove him back inside, slamming the door in his face.

Sucking in some air, he chanced a glance at the man still in his bed. Seungcheol’s eyes opened from the loud slam. Slowly walking over to his side of the bed, he sat back down and watched as the black-haired man sit up. Jeonghan had gathered his clothes and handed them to him before heading to his own closet and to change into proper clothes. 

Minutes later, he reemerged with a white button up, blond hair parted in the middle. Seungcheol gave him a once over before cocking an eyebrow while buttoning his shirt, “What’s the occasion?”

Seungcheol knew he had a mission to go to, but he wasn’t sure what it was. “Gotta get some information out of a homophobic politician down in Singapore,” He left the top two unbuttoned, “So, Shua and I are about to pretend to be the prejudice, stereotypical gays that are usually portrayed horribly in Western media.”

Playing along, Seungcheol smiled, “So who are the writers going to kill off?”

“If things go south,” the blond pretended to think, “The Politician.”

The two fell into a silent limbo, neither knowing what to say or what to do after what had just occurred. What do you say after having sex with your partner? They couldn’t even look at each other, Seungcheol was busy fixing the collar of his shirt while Jeonghan was tying his shoes (he was also trying his hardest not to show pain. Pain is for the weak. And he hasn’t gotten any for almost eight months. So yeah, he was weak).

It didn’t last very long when there was a tap at the door, “Hi… Knock knock,” Joshua peeked the door open with a sly smile, “Hi, Coups.”

“Hey, Josh.”

He stepped inside, wearing a navy collared shirt with small red and white stripes. The Angel didn’t like the look in his eye, “I just came by to see if Jeonghannie was ready. I brought you a choker…” He held out the black string, a devious glint in his eyes, “Unless you already have a choker… Hey Cheol, are you a choker?”

Grabbing the choker out of his hands, he roughly shoved his best friend out of his room, “There was a line that you didn’t just cross, you launched yourself over it!” Slamming the door behind him, he looked at Seungcheol who was looking right back at him. A sheepish smile spread across his face, trying hard not to cringe at second-hand embarrassment.

Seungcheol gave him an extremely amused smile, pleasantly surprised at The Gentleman’s antics. “So that’s Joshua in his prime?”

“Trust me, he’s worse with Vernon.”

“Oh,” Seungcheol smile widened, “So Mingyu was telling the truth, you do talk about me.”

The younger closed his eyes as he tied the accessory around his neck. All his friends were traitors. He was about to come back with a witty comment, only to find his partner right in front of him as soon as he turned around.

“Can we talk about what happened last night,” he licked his lips nervously, “What was it? Just tell me so I know how to go about it.”

Taken aback, Jeonghan scrunched his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” Seungcheol’s eyes looked tired as if he didn’t want to have this conversation, “We’ve both been with enough people to know. Do we pretend it never happened? Or do we just keep doing this as a casual thing? Or…”

Hoping his eyes didn’t light up, the blond perked up, “Or what?”

“Or nothing. It happened. We acknowledge it, and that’s it. Because usually, nobody wants the ultimatum,” He shrugged tucking in his shirt, “So, what’s it going to be?”

Jeonghan blinked at the response. That’s new. He was blown by how Seungcheol was acting so normal and calm as if this was some sort of booty call. It seemed so out of character yet it fits so well with his personality. He was at a loss for words (the dimples help either). What happened to the pining newbie bit? One and done and that’s it? _‘Say something idiot! Anything!’_

His mouth moved faster than his brain which was working on autopilot now, “It happened... and it’s done. We can still be civil, right?”

_‘You motherfucker!’_

“Okay,” Jeonghan couldn’t help but see the disappointment in his eyes. He knew it well. Mostly because it was the look he’d give himself, but there was still the look of understanding. “See you when you get back.” 

Jeonghan’s heart pounded – it was like he was running on adrenaline, but he wasn’t – as he watched his partner shove his phone in his denim jacket, leaving his room. As soon as he heard the front door shut, he started counting down from five, only getting to three, when he hears feet running towards him. “You fucked up, didn’t you?”

There was a sour taste in his mouth. Scrunching his nose, he replied coolly, "Nope, I did what I always do."

"You're sick."

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

“No kills you’re itching for?” Jun leaned against the doorframe. “Or has the Angel of death taken your soul?”

Looking up from his computer screen he responded with a dull, “Yes.”

It’s been two days since their incident and Seungcheol’s been a lifeless man since then. But, he’d give himself some props, he was good at hiding it for the most part. It just sucked that now their relationship is going to have to work around a one night stand even though they were supposed to be civil.

“I applaud you, it took him almost a year to crack you,” He sat on top of his desk, “Wanna know how to get make your mind not think about him?”

“What?”

“Rena!”

“My darling Piano Man rang?” She exaggerated.

“Get Pinky and meet us down in the shooting range, we’re going to teach her how to shoot.”

 

“Why are we doing this?” He rolled up the grey blazer, aiming before shooting at the paper target getting dead center.

“Because,” Jun loaded up a gun before taking aim as well. “When teaching Pinky-poo how to use weapons, you’re only focus, is trying not to die.”

“It’s true,” Rena stood on top of the booth, “I can’t even teach her. And I taught Xiyeon.”

Seungcheol thought it was a good idea. He needed to clear his mind, it wasn’t healthy to constantly bug over unimportant matters. But he spoke too soon when he underestimated how bad of a shot Kyulkyung was.

“Wow… How’d you get it behind us?” Seungcheol scratched his head while staring at the fresh hole in the wall.

“Hand to hand combat, she could kick ass. But she has to know how to use a gun, especially if Nayoung’s her partner,” Rena continued to polish here revolver. “I think it’s gift.”

Shaking his head, Seungcheol repeatedly tapped his index finger to his chin while he continued to stare at the paper target, “No, I think I figured it out...” He moved to stand in front of Kyulkyung.

“You did?” Both girls including Jun looked stunned.

“Okay, eyes on me Pinky,” He made sure she nodded before he continued. “What happens when you shoot, the recoil makes your hands go up, causing the gun to move up too,” He demonstrated slowly, “So when the gun moves upward, the bullet’s trajectory is thrown off course and isn’t shot straight.”

Rena looked at Jun in disbelief, a bit frustrated that she never thought of that. “So, like this.” Seungcheol stood behind her now, getting to her level, before wrapping arms around the fix her position, “Okay, your stance is good, but your grip is too tight.” He came around to her side and adjusted her. He tilted her chin up a bit and told her to relax as he repositioned himself behind her again, reaching over to put his hands-on top of hers. “Now, let me teach you a trick I use. Instead of shooting with your dominant hand, grip it with your dominant hand, therefore you have more control over it.” He almost whispered in her ear, scared that if he spooked her she’d fire and somehow lodge a bullet in his leg. 

Slowly he stepped back from her. The three watched in anticipation as she fired the shot.

“I did it…”

“She did it!”

Jun ran towards the target, pointing at the hole right in the center. “You did it!”

“I did it!” She dropped the gun, turning around giving Seungcheol a massive hug causing him to stumble back. The four of them all laughed at her excitement for finally hitting the target but was short-lived when the double doors opened.

"Oh," All turned to face Jeonghan and Joshua at the entrance. "What's... what's going on?"

"Oh... umm..." Kyulkyung quickly removed herself from the eldest one in the room, "S.Coups just taught me how to shoot."

Joshua slowly dragged his bag full of weapons to the storage unit, eyes wide and his gaze never leaving Jun’s. Dropping the bag, he nudged his head towards the door, dropping hints.

Jun coughed getting everyone's attention, but Jeonghan's whose eyes were still trained on Seungcheol and Kyulkyung who were standing awfully close. "Alright ladies, Hong, let's go inform Nana about Pinky's progress."

As they left, the silence was loud between them.

"I feel a congrats in order," Jeonghan began, "You'll probably get a bonus for teaching Kyung how to shoot."

"That... that's nice." He unrolled his sleeves, completely unsure about how to feel at the given moment, "Jun suggested it, thought I'd get my mind off things."

"So, this was Junhui's idea?"

Outside, there was a muffled 'fuck' before the sounds of footsteps running.

Jeonghan stretched out his arms before crossing them," She's cute." 

“I mean yeah, Pinky’s pretty special—”

“Oh? So she’s special to you?”

The Angel hated how he sounded. What the hell was he going through?

Seungcheol tried to explain but ultimately failed. He didn’t have to explain himself. God damn it, he just helped a loss cause shoot for the first time, he should feel damn good. “No- what? I mean- Why are you back so soon?”

Instantly, Jeonghan’s face went cold.

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

"He didn't get to you, you got to him," Seungcheol jumped in fright when he found Jun and Kyulkyung inside his office, cursing at the two.

"Jeonghan was jealous in there? He was jealous…" The Piano Man rounded the table and stared at him for a while. Seems like he found something because he gasped dramatically, "You two had sex!"

"What makes you say that?"

"You're never bummed because of Jeonghan. Last time that happened was when he full on hated you... I can't believe you got him to bed," Kyulkyung took pleasure in teasing him.

Seungcheol seemed to have to defend himself a lot today, "He kissed me first what was I-"

"Hold the fuck up!” Jun held his hands up, “He kissed you first?"

 

" _You_ kissed him?" Jeonghan flinched. He knew it was bad when he was dragged into the interrogation room. Joshua sat in front of him while Rena was pacing around the room. "Is this character development?" 

"I think it is," Joshua nodded along. 

Jeonghan wanted to pretend it wasn't a big deal, but for him, it technically was. All his past relationships begun because they all wanted him. They initiated everything in the relationship so him kissing Seungcheol first and being the one to drag him to bed was a big change.

"He left without a fuss, he's the one who wanted it to be clean," Dramatically gasping some more, Jeonghan threw his hands on the table in defeat, "Will you guys stop? It's not the first time someone has wanted it to be simple."

Scoffing, Rena gave Joshua a look of pity for him, "but honey, you were jealous of Pinky."

"You were jealous?" Joshua raised an eyebrow to his best friend, intrigued by this turn of events. Blinking, he mentally berated himself for showing weakness. 

 

"He never gets jealous!" Jun whacked Seungcheol's arm, "You've done it. You've torn down the force field around his heart! Now you need to bomb its defenses and tear down the other seven hundred layers of fortified cement.”

"Oh come on, he's dated Baekho right?"

Kyulkyung shook her head, placing a hand over her heart to express her pity, "Alas, no avail. Baekho would try everything to get his attention, he tried the jealous route, and Jeonghan wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. He didn’t care enough.”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes. They had to be exaggerating. There was no way that he couldn’t have experienced jealousy in a relationship with someone trying to make you jealous.

 

 “What do you mean? I got jealous with Baekho!” Jeonghan tried to defend himself. “But I am also not saying I was jealous of Pinky. That’s ridiculous.”

But Joshua saw right through him, “Incorrect! You unintentionally made him jealous while _you_ were jealous of all the single people when you were with him.”

He tried, he really did, to come up with a counter argument but came up short because of course his best friend knew him, he was his best friend for a reason.

Jealousy meant that he was annoyed or envious of something, which meant that he felt possessive, leading to having an attachment to something, that narrowed down to having feelings. And having feelings was most definitely not in Jeonghan’s spectrum of emotions.

He is incapable of feeling a connection with people. That’s what made him the heartbreaker.

“You have feelings for him,” Rena tilted her head as if she was looking at something completely brand new.

_“Usually nobody wants the ultimatum. So, what’s it going to be?”_

Pressing his tongue to his cheek, Jeonghan’s insides began to burn. If he had felt that just meant his heart was bound to break. And he’s praying to the high lords that the burning feeling in his chest, wasn’t that.

Jeonghan stood to leave the room, ignoring his friends’ protests. There was just too much going on for him, his mind was everywhere and he just couldn’t take it.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

He found himself alone on the roof building. He looked down on the city lights, the headlights of the cars and the fluorescent lighting from the street posts and buildings. So many people had their own problems to deal with, some even more serious than his, but that’s human nature. He must worry about himself if he doesn’t then who will.

“Thought I’d find you up here?”

Jeonghan exhaled, not in the mood to exert too much energy on arguing so he allowed the taller man to come up next to him and lean over the railing as well. “What’s up?”

“I thought you left since I didn’t see your car, but I saw Azrael still embedded in your wall so I figured you were still here,” Baekho shrugged.

Yes, bounty hunter deduction skills at its prime.

“I take it you’ve heard about the events that happened a couple of nights ago,” The blond cracked his knuckles out of habit.

“What about it? Wasn’t it your last mission with S.Coups?”

Giving him a side glance, he wasn’t sure if he really didn’t know or if he was pretending not to, whichever it was he chose not to bring it up, “No yeah, I had to explode my own car to make sure our guy didn’t get away.”

He saw the look his ex gave him. It was the look of concern and over protectiveness and it made him want to gag. Leave it to him to have the overly concerned ex-boyfriend.

Jeonghan skillfully dodged and deflected all Baekho’s worried questions, informing him that Seungcheol is a very capable partner and even pulled him out of the way, successfully dodged literal bullets. Apparently, it was a mistake saying that since the stress lines got deeper on the older’s face. “Chill. I’m alive.”

“Is this guy even a good partner if you nearly got shot?”

A bit offended at the comment, he gave Baekho and disgusted look, “He saved me, so yes. He is a good partner.”

Ending the conversation at that, they walked back downstairs in silence – he had to leave since Joshua was his ride while led to Baekho following. Opening the access door, they re-entered the lobby area where – of course – Joshua and Seungcheol were standing, waiting for an elevator.

His two partners looked at him, both giving him two different facial expressions. Seungcheol’s upturn lip and unwavering eyes read as a bitter “Of course,” while Joshua’s look of murder was the definition of “Really? Are you fucking kidding me?” It also didn’t help when the senior bounty hunter gave his shoulder a squeeze before returning to headquarters, leaving him to fend for himself from his best friend and a one-night stand.

Standing between the two, he checked his watch, where the hell was the elevator? Seungcheol puffed his cheeks, looking everywhere but at Jeonghan while Joshua had taken the liberty of staring him down. Nearly screaming “THANK GOD!” when the metal doors slid open, he was the first one to go inside. He only had thirty seconds left of the insufferable tension.

They bid Seungcheol goodbye as they climbed in Joshua’s Benz, once their doors shut, the American had no problem whacking him over the head.

“What the fuck? Ow!”

“What the hell were you doing with Baekho on the roof?”

“I was tired and he just showed up, nothing happened,” Jeonghan massaged his temples, “There’s just too much going on and I’m exhausted.”

“Listen, we couldn’t do anything,” Joshua knew exactly what his major concern was at the moment, “We can’t always win them all.”

Scratching the back of his head, annoyed, he sighed, “It’s too weird to be a coincident-”

“Well, it was, so just drop it.”

“But-”

“There’s no possible way! At all, you’re wrong.”

The blond was completely thrown. What was his deal? Ever since their mission he’d been short and snippy. Every time he’d ask about Vernon, he was told they were just fine, but when he tried to talk about the mission, Joshua wanted to shut down all his theories.

He watched intently as his best friend continued to drive. What was he hiding?

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

Seungcheol tossed his keys on his countertop, needing a long break from reality after everything that’s occurred today. Everything was piling up on him and they all had Jeonghan’s name all over it.

Microwaving some leftovers, he stared at the floor recalling their conversation in the shooting range.

Jeonghan’s demeanor changed completely. Seungcheol knew the face; it was the face when he was on a mission. Last time he saw it outside of an assignment was when he was out to get him. Quickly, Jeonghan opened the door making sure their co-workers were nowhere near before locking the door. He jogged over to the speakers and plugged his phone in and played whatever music he saw first.

“What are you doing?”

“Listen to me, this stays between you, me and Shua, got it?” His voice was serious, “I trust you enough with this information. Richard Ho, the politician we were after, apparently got tipped off that The Gentleman and Angel were back in Singapore.”

He looked at the blond with disbelief. Even with the EDM music – something he will question Jeonghan about later –  he heard him loud and clear. “You’re kidding? Han, that guy has eyes all over Singapore. If someone told him you two were there he might know who you are.”

“Do you think I didn’t think about that?” He scratched his head in frustration, “But I got Snake Eyes to track him. He flew exactly a day before we touched down. By exact, I mean the exact second.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Biting his lip, he looked up to the security cameras before locking eyes with Seungcheol once again, “I’m saying there’s a possibility that there's a mole.”

 _‘A mole in Diamond Edge?’_ Opening the microwave, he dropped the pizza plate on the counter. There was just no way that could happen. Their entire team trusted each other and everyone who’s under Diamond Edge is basically family. It sounds almost impossible to have someone double cross the company. _‘He’s just paranoid.’_

 

_~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes, if you need me, I'm @HVCHW3 on Twitter.  
> I'm gonna go eat ice cream and talk about how busted my love life is, much like Jeonghan's currently.


	9. ... Must Come Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *Plays Peek-a-Boo by Red Velvet* Surprise bitches

The week following the shit storm that was last, things began to finally settle down. But really, it only settled as much as it could with the lives they were living.

After a couple of successful missions, Jeonghan had dropped the mole conspiracy – for now – while still skirting around Seungcheol.

_‘Be civil my ass…’_

It’s rather hypocritical on his behalf because he’s the one who made things complicated whenever Seungcheol was within the proximity. Everybody thought that since their partnership hit a pause, the two had gone back to their old ways.

Are Jeonghan and Seungcheol being petty? No. It’s just at this point in the game, neither of them knew their boundaries since all the lines were cross the moment his bedroom door closed.

“Since Vernon disappeared for almost two weeks, guess who the fuck is first,” Minghao sang as he erased ‘Madman’ from the board and replaced it with ‘The8.’ “Coups is coming in third dropping Gentleman to fifth.”

Joshua tried to defend himself, claiming that it was an off week. It didn’t stop the incessant teasing though.

“You’ve been gone for a while Vernon, where’ve you been?” Soonyoung rocked his chair back and forth.

“Yeah,” Seungcheol’s eyebrows furrowed at the realization, his eyes scanned over to Jeonghan who seemed to be thinking the same exact thing, “Where have you been?”

“That my friends is none of your business,” Vernon twirled in his chair.

Jeonghan’s jaw locked at the carefree answer. “I guess so.”

Apparently, Joshua caught onto what they were trying to get at and he didn’t like it one bit. After the quick meeting, Joshua shoved them (something he’s really good at) both into his office.

“What the hell was that?” His anger was directed towards Jeonghan before pointing at Seungcheol, “Did you tell him?”

“I did. He might not be it right now, but he’s my partner. I trust him.”

“Come on Josh, you have to admit it’s sketchy how he’s MIA when you and Jeonghan failed that mission. And he never tells us anything,” Seungcheol pressed.

“Are you two accusing him of being a mole?”

Neither said yes, but neither denied it either.

“You two are unbelievable.”

“Shua, you guys are barely even talking and it looks bad-”

“He’s not!” Joshua barked, eyes wide, “End of discussion! He’s not!”

Perhaps they took it a bit too far with the accusations. But what else were they supposed to do? They were trying to rule out as many people as possible so they can just shoot down the whole mole idea.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“You did it!” Woozi held his hand up waiting for a high-five, “You banged him!”

Seungcheol sighed for the umpteenth time. He can’t even get a moment alone in the copy room. “Who told you?”

“Nobody… who else knows?” The analyst’s eyes lit up. “It’s obvious to me, I don’t know about the other imbeciles here, but both of you act like you need to talk to each other but decide last minute not to.” A smug look crept on his face, “and you just confirmed it. You two fucked!”

The older definitely wanted to choke Woozi at the moment but decided not to, especially since that’d further back Joshua’s inappropriate comment after he slept with his best friend. “Yes. I slept with him, option four it was, and the outcome was completely different than all the other options.”

“You’re so tense,” Woozi sipped his smoothie, “Ever consider yoga?”

“Well, when you’ve got a partner who isn’t your partner at the moment, along with sleeping with your partner, and then the first mission I do without my partner is a complete bust, I have a lot to be tense about;” Seungcheol grumbled, grabbing his copied papers, praying Woozi would for once, leave him alone.

“You’re HK mission?”

“I needed him alive and the dude decided to just free fall down the elevator shaft!” S.Coups pouts at the thought of not getting the entire reward.

The shorter continued to sip at his smoothie, in deep thought, “Wanna grab a drink tonight? You need one.”

It was probably the best idea he’s heard all week, so there was no hesitation when he agreed.

“See you tonight Cheol,” Woozi waved as he shut himself back into his man cave.

“What happening tonight?”

Seungcheol jumped at the new voice. He found Jeonghan standing behind him, rummaging through a file while glancing up at him. “Um, I’m going out with Snake Eyes tonight.”

The blond’s head snapped up so fast, it apparently shocked himself as well. “Huh?”

“I see you have a mission,” he quickly changed the subject.

Looking down at the forgotten files in his hands, Jeonghan blinked. “Oh, yeah I’m heading out in about an hour.”

Nodding, Seungcheol slowly backed away to his office, not really knowing what to do in such an awkward situation. It was technically their first real conversation since their sexcapade so having random chit-chat hasn’t been an ideal. But they’ll take what they can get.

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Flipping open his revolver, loading it, “Alright, Massie, do you read me?”

“Loud and clear sexy.”

For probably the millionth time that day, Jeonghan froze. Slamming the barrel back in its place, he leaned back into the driver’s seat, “Snake Eyes?”

“Salutations my God-sent friend,” his voice rang from the earpiece, “I’m at your service for this one.”

Just his luck. First, he’s assigned a timed case where he should be in and out since the police were going to raid his bounty. Then he finds out that his one-night stand which whom he doesn’t have feelings for is going on a date with not only his co-worker but a close friend. And to top it all off, now the said friend is going to be speaking into his ear the entire time right before he goes out with his partner? Friend? One and done? Who fucking knows, because Jeonghan sure doesn’t.

Entering through the back door, he begins to go up the emergency stairwell, trying really hard to just tune out Woozi’s voice.

“Just hurry up and tell me what room he’s in.” Jeonghan snapped. He didn’t mean to sound so harsh, it was just the pressure of the mission. Yup. That was it.

“Woah there,” Woozi shoots back, “What’s with the attitude?”

The shorter watches as Jeonghan continues to climb the stairs moving from screen to screen. “Where’s Massie? Why isn’t she the one helping me out?”

A bit taken aback by his tone, he looks at the Angel through the security footage, “Because this is a high-risk case and she didn’t want to mess it up. Is there a problem?”

“Nope not at all,” he huffs, “Just worried you won’t make it in time to see S.Coups that’s all.”

“Wait a fucking minute,” Woozi leans back in his chair, an amused smile creeping on his face. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

He watches through the security camera as Jeonghan’s black and white image stops walking. He scoffs as he turns around to face the camera, a look of disbelief on his face. “Me-what-excuse me- what? Jealous? _Me_?”

Snake Eyes chuckles as he zooms in on the astonished look. If there was anything Woozi enjoyed, it was to mess with Jeonghan. “You’re jealous over the fact that Coups and I are going out tonight.” He sang, completely enthralled.

Of course, he’s jealous. But was he going to admit it? Of course not. He’s been denying his raging jealousy every single time Seungcheol flashed a smile revealing the stupid little dimple. But he wasn’t going to start being truthful now, Jeonghan was too deep in denial to even pull himself out of it.

Woozi also knew he wasn’t going to outright say it, mostly because Jeonghan is the most stubborn person in the world. It was so obvious that Seungcheol had feelings for the blond but the blond didn’t seem to grasp the situation, no matter how smart he was. 

“I’m not.”

“Whatever you say, man. But don’t worry your pretty little head. We’re just going out to get some drinks and blow off some steam. Hong Kong mission didn’t go too great. Want to join?”

“Nope.”

Woozi quickly advises him not to use his revolver, just in case it triggered the police to show up sooner than later.

He watches as Jeonghan approaches the hotel room, pulling out his blade from under his slacks, and slides it inside his sleeve. He shoved the revolver back into the holster attached to his belt, gripping the door and Azrael tight.

“On my count,” Woozi slides to the other side of his desk that had a security camera from across the street. It had a good view of inside the hotel window.

“Three.”

Swiveling a bit, he faces the center monitor and begins typing codes, keeping an eye on Jeonghan and the drug dealer. “Two.”

“One.” 

The security lock flashed green and Jeonghan finally entered. 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  

It was well past two in the morning when he returned to the headquarters. He poked his head into the interrogation room and tossed Chan he’s keys back – the Kid had promised Soonyoung he’d help find another lead on the runaway trafficker in Thailand – since he still hasn’t gotten a new car yet.

“Nana has some files for you,” Soonyoung mumbled as he traced some lines on the map of Thailand.

_‘Another one?’_

He’s been doing back to back assignments and he didn’t know when it was going to stop. Dragging his feet to her office, he pouted when she held a manila folder out for him.

“I know you’re tired babe, but I promise this one isn’t for another week,” She smiled at him.

Sulking, he took the folder and skimmed through it. “Wait…” He turned back around to face her once more, “I’m back with S.Coups?”

“Madman’s back, even if he’s desked, the Gentleman has his partner back.”

“But I’m his partner?”

“You were. Past tense,” Nana closed the file on her desk, putting it in what looks like the finished pile while grabbing another, “Success rate with you two being partners and Josh and Vernon being partners have gone up. Josh even asked if he could continue working with Madman when needed.”

Jeonghan clicked his tongue. What are the odds?

He found himself back in the conference room, staring at the whiteboard with the top five names on it. He and Seungcheol were currently tied at third.

 **1.**   **THE8 - 77**  
**2\. MadmaN - 69 (LMAO dirty** **♡ -Boo)**  
**3\. The Angel - 54**  
**4\. S.Coups - 54  
****5\. The Gentleman - 50**  

Reaching up, he erased the four next to his name and replaced it with a five, officially putting him in the lead. But why does he feel like he’s losing?

He made a bee-line towards his office. Locking the door behind him he fell into his rolling chair and rolled towards his bottom desk drawer. Pulling out a shoe box, he tossed the lid and dumped the post-it notes on his desk. Jeonghan didn’t know why he kept them, they were useless slips of paper, but it was dozens of Seungcheol’s apologies all in one place.

 

**_I’m really, really, really, sorry I killed those two people!_ **

**_Hi! You ignored me so I didn’t get to say I’m sorry. Sooooo… I’m sorry._ **

**_Your hair looks nice today. By the way, I’m sorry._ **

**_Good Luck in Laos! PS. I’m sorry. PPS. Please stop throwing sharp objects at me, I’m fragile._ **

_“I actually prefer what he looks like now.”_

_“Hmmm, this is a good view.” The older teased as he watched Jeonghan glare with annoyance._

_“… I was just trying to do my job. And I really don’t want you to hate me because of it.”_

_“Why wouldn’t I talk? Considering you’re the hot guy who hates the pining newbie.”_

_“Sorry for caring about you? Sorry for wanting to make sure my partner was safe and makes it out alive with me? My apologies for not wanting anything bad to happen to you.”_

_“We acknowledge it and that’s it. Because usually, nobody wants the ultimatum.”_

 

_‘I do.’_

Slamming his hand on the desk, Jeonghan wanted to yell at the top of his lungs. What the hell was wrong with him? Continuously, he began tapping his fist against his forehead, berating himself. How could he let himself slip up this badly with such little effort? Mingyu constantly shows his affection and praise, and he had to endure it for almost two years; Jeonghan was a rock. Baekho cared about him and watched over him like a good senior, he taught him, and was devoted and loyal, spending almost a year attempting to wear him down; yet Jeonghan didn’t budge. All of these people he saw and all those people who wanted something to do with him, he just didn’t feel anything for them.

Then Seungcheol had to waltz in. His presence screamed that he was a red flag! But he was hooked. The two kills be damned, Seungcheol wasn’t after him. He was after his forgiveness. Granted, S.Coups is attracted to him, but what made it even worse is that he wasn’t even trying to win Jeonghan over. And unknowingly to them both, he did.

How did Seungcheol manage to be the one to affect Jeonghan the most with the least amount of effort?

_‘I want the ultimatum.’_

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

“Can I talk to you,” Jeonghan jogged behind Seungcheol, trying to get him before he gets to his office. Ever since he told him that they were going on a mission together, the two fell into an unspoken game of hide and seek.

“Can it wait? I have to finish some paperwork then run down to the shooting range and train Pinky-”

“Seungcheol.”

Said man grabbed the office doorframe to stop himself. Jeonghan has never once called him by his actual name. Looking back, he sees the blond staring back at him, waiting for an answer.

“After the mission. We’ll talk. Okay?” He reasoned but saw the doubt written on the younger’s face. Taking a step forward he allowed himself to smile, “I promise. When the mission is over we can talk.”

“What if I die?” And the snarkiness was back.

“That’s not going to happen because I’m not going to let that happen.”

“What if you die?”

“Why would you kill me like that? You said you have things to talk about,” Seungcheol bantered, smile widening when he saw Jeonghan press his tongue against his cheek, trying hard not to smile.

“After the mission then.”

 

“Who abandon’s an entire apartment building?” Jeonghan grimaced when he stood at the foot of the staircase. It spiraled all the way up. Looking up the stairwell he could see the glass window (dusty as hell too) on the ceiling from under the banister bridges connecting the floors.

“Your perfect hell right?” Seungcheol loaded his gun, waiting for Jeonghan to climb the wooden steps.

The railings were worn and torn, some spots of the staircase were missing but enough to walk on. It seems that every two dozen steps it flattens to a banister.

Both ducked down when they saw a shadow move a couple of floors above them. Quickly the two made their way up the staircase, but Seungcheol stopped when he saw movement passing the hall for the fifth floor. Letting Jeonghan take care of the one upstairs, Seungcheol elongated his iron, armed with both hands. All his senses were alert at the moment. He could still hear Jeonghan going up the creaking steps. It wasn’t until he saw the figure at the end of the hall slip inside a room.

Squinting, he saw a silhouette of what looked to be another stairwell. _‘No wonder this place is abandoned the architecture is horrible…’_

It was the last thought he had before sprinting back to the staircase running after Jeonghan.

Everything happened so fast yet it went so slow. One second he was climbing up the spiraling staircase, a desperate effort to catch up to Jeonghan, the next, a couple floors above him, pieces of the wooden railings come flying down. When he looks out from the staircase, he sees a fire and Jeonghan blasting backward from the recoil.

"HAN!"

The Angel was in quite a compromised position. Holding onto a piece of plywood of the stairs with one hand. He swung around a bit, grabbing on with his other hand for more support.

“Hey, remember how you said you wouldn’t let me die?” His voice echoed over the crackling fire and the breaking wood. “You should really stay true to that.”

Leave it to Jeonghan to make some kind of uncalled for comment in the most improper situation. “Why the hell did you have to be on the broken side of the staircase?” Tries to play along as well since his side was much more intact.

Seungcheol was close to suggesting to pull himself up or swing down to the banister below him, but both were currently missing due to rubble falling from the explosion.

He was about two floors away from Jeonghan, but how the hell was he supposed to get him to him safely then get him down without it breaking.

It’s too late when the unthinkable happens. The plywood splits and he’s sent falling.

Seungcheol runs onto the unstable bridge and reaches out as far as he possibly can, he hears his name being called out. His arms outstretched as The Angel without wings continues to descend; his arm reaching out as well. But they miss each other by a centimeter.

"NO!" he watched as he slipped through the holes in the stairs.

He began to panic. His heart rate beating out of control as everything slowed down. The look he saw in Jeonghan’s eyes crushed him. It felt like a giant claw had reached up and grabbed him by the chest and squeezed everything out of him. Everything in him was yelling “JUMP!” And he was about to.

Then, out of nowhere, a body collides with Jeonghan's, knocking him perfectly inside one of the corridors, still far from the last floor. 

Heart frozen, he runs down the hall into the other set of stairs, estimating about three flights before stopping at a floor; to see Jeonghan being held on the other side of the broken bridge.

He can only see the other man's back but he sees Jeonghan's face in utter shock. His arms awkwardly out, as if he didn't want to hug back or if he didn’t know if he should. Seungcheol can see the other continuously stroke the blond man’s hair as if he was trying to soothe him.

"Baekho?”

 

Reluctantly, Jeonghan drove back to headquarters with Baekho. He knew he had to thank him for saving his ass but he couldn’t even utter a word. Nothing was making sense. “Why were you there?”

Parking in the garage, Baekho gives him an odd look, “Is that your way of thanking me?”

“Dongho,” Jeonghan’s voice is sharper this time around, “Why were you there tonight?”

“Fox sent me,” he replies a bit hurt, “And I’m glad she did because who know what would have happened to you-”

Jeonghan doesn’t even wait for him to finish talking before getting out of the car. “I’m not a fucking child that needs babysitting. I’m not your damsel in distress. And I am most definitely not someone who needs saving.” He enters the elevator, rolling his eyes when Baekho enters as well.

“I never said you were- where are you going?”

The Angel slips out of the elevator before it closes, “I’m waiting for S.Coups.” His jaw locked out of frustration when the doors finally closed.

He leaned his back against the brick wall, tilting his head back until it the wall as well. Sure, he’s been shot at, fallen from heights before, maybe almost exploded once or twice so this wasn’t new. Jeonghan has always managed to cheat his way out of death and he wouldn’t even care.

But after what happened, it’s the first time he’s ever felt that kind of fear before. It finally felt real. It felt real when he tried to grab Seungcheol’s hand. It felt real when their eyes locked and he saw how terrified his partner was because for once, Jeonghan has something to lose.

Jeonghan sees the black beamer pull into the lot. He straightens up, pressing the elevator button. Entering he waits for Seungcheol to catch up. When they finally see each other, they realize just how much of a mess they were.

S.Coups’ eyes were exhausted, dark circles underneath with his hair all messed up. Jeonghan looked no better.

They both move at the same time, Jeonghan pulling him close by the hem of his shirt while Seungcheol grabbed his wrist, lips meeting halfway. The kiss shared unspoken words. Unsaid apologies and gratefulness that they were both alive.

Seungcheol pulled away before it could get any deeper. Jeonghan held in a whine from the loss of contact.

“I’m sorry.”

“Seungcheol don’t apologize.”

“I’m so sorry,” he huffed, “I know you said we were going to keep a civil and have it a one and done thing but… I’m just… happy you're safe. That’ll be the last time I do that. Sorry.”

It’s agonizing the way Jeonghan’s heart was beating so fast. That was the last thing Seungcheol should be apologizing for. “Seungcheol-”

The doors reopened to the office area. The older left in a haste to report back to Nana.

 

“While you two were on route, Phantasia’s White Tail contacted me. Lee Bo Lin was found an hour earlier in the same building…” She gave Ren, who was standing by her, a knowing look, “By Starship.” The relationship between the two companies had been strained since the last meeting. “Do you have any information pertaining to a mole in this company?”

Jeonghan shook his head, “I just suspect there is one since some of my failed missions seemed way too coincidental.”

The two were dismissed from the office. Seungcheol skillfully avoided Jeonghan once again, immediately heading out.

Expecting to just get in his Beamer and go, he was met with a pair of hands shoving him against his car. 

"What the hell was that? Were you seriously about to let him die?"

Whatever inkling feeling he had about Baekho's and Jeonghan's relationship was answered at that moment. 

His blood boiled at the accusation, did this guy really think this lowly of him? "No! What the hell? I was about to do everything to save him!"

"Then you should have try harder!" Baekho screams in his face. "I knew I couldn't trust you being his new official partner."

"Like you ever were," Seungcheol manages to push him off only to be met with a pistol. Unfazed, he walked right up to it, pressing the muzzle closing to his chest. "I fucking dare you. But I really don't think Jeonghan would appreciate it all that much."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"I wouldn't bet on that, granted that he told me why those kills were important," he saw the senior bounty hunter falter. Unknowingly hitting a touchy subject. Apparently, not everybody knew about him. So he took the opportunity to turn the gun to the holder. "And I hope you know that I would have thrown myself off the banister to just catch him. If I didn’t save him, I’d die trying. Do not. Ever. Say that I’d just let him die because I could never."

Snatching the gun from the other’s hold, Baekho poked Seungcheol in the chest, threatening him. "The next time something like this happens, I'm putting a bullet through your brain."

Seungcheol yanked his car door open, giving him one last icy glare. "If it ever does happen again, I'll let you. But until then. Fuck off and let his real partner worry about him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to finish and post this chapter because it was eating me alive. Kay, I gotta go study for my exams and write my two fucking essays for Religion and Am. Govt. Lmaooooooo I wanna combust.  
> Follow me @HVCHW3 and so so so so so so so so sorry for any mistakes  
> (also you might not get any new updates for like 2 weeks or more. Lo siento. I'm sorry. désolé. pasensya na k?)


	10. Falling Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready Bitches?

Thirteen bounty hunters sat in silence and frustration as Nana stares them all down. “Are you really accusing one of us of being a mole?” Soonyoung rages. Lifting himself off the tinted window he was leaning on, Wonwoo watches their boss with extreme care.

Seokmin looks around the room at his colleagues, all sharing the look of disbelief, save for Jeonghan, Seungcheol, Vernon, and Joshua. “Well, that isn’t possible because none of would do that.”

“Apparently not since there has to be one.”

“Jeonghan.” Joshua snapped. The two have been at each other’s throats since the accusations last week, and it didn’t help that Joshua had opted to stay over at Minghao’s place.

Seungcheol came to Jeonghan’s defense, “Do you know something we don’t Joshua?”

Giving his old partner a challenging look, Jeonghan spoke, “I don’t know, why don’t we as Madman?”

All heads turn to him. Vernon’s lip twitches down at the straightforwardness. Of course, he’d be the one to be thrown under the bus. “What the hell man?”

Joshua slammed his hands on the desk, “Yeah what the fuck Jeonghan? We talked about this.”

“No, you talked about this, I wasn’t done talking about it!”

“He’s not!”

Fed up was an understatement, Jeonghan is completely done with Joshua’s bullshit. “Why are you so hell-bent on defending him?”

“Why are you trying to pin this on him!”

“Because if this has something to do with mine and Jeonghan’s last mission then it’s bullshit! Jeonghan almost died!” Seungcheol all but screamed in the conference room. “Do you not care at all? Or are you just too busy trying to cover Vernon’s ass?”

Joshua bit his lip, unsure of what to say next. It is true. Jeonghan could have died and instead of making him feel better, it just looks like he’s trying to cover up something shady.

“I’m not the mole,” Vernon sighs, “Yes, Josh is covering for me, because asked him to.” Digging into his pocket, he tosses a couple of USBs on the desk. “I’ve been in my parents’ old base. I have my own server that Kahi and everyone else didn’t know about.” He pauses to allow everyone else to take in the information. Rolling his eyes at the gasps and shocked noises, he finds himself wondering just how dramatic these assholes were. “The reason I didn’t tell you was mostly that I forgot it existed. It wasn’t until maybe more than two months ago when I was out on a mission with Seungkwan, we got the guy, but he knew me. Like, he knew my last name.”

Seungcheol watched him closely to see if he was telling the truth. But the pure frustration in his eyes was a dead giveaway that he wasn’t lying. “So, you went back to see if he was tied with your parents?”

Vernon nodded, “But there was nothing. I left it at that. But after Mingyu told me about a failed one he had the next week than Hoshi, it just didn’t make sense. I went back and began digging through all the servers.”

Woozi stood up, “What do you mean all the servers?”

Pressing a tongue to his cheek, he looked unsure if he should say anything at all. But he had to. “I have access to as much data as Woozi does, and a little bit more than that. So, no. I’m not the mole. I’ve been trying to find out if there is one, to begin with.”

The room grew quiet. Fourteen people in the room, yet nobody had anything to say. So Seungcheol started. “I’m sorry for accusing you, man.”

Vernon shook his head and smiled, “You had every right. If I were you, I would have pointed fingers too.”

“And I’m sorry,” Jeonghan turned to Joshua, “That you’re a piece of shit. Come home, and make me a burger with the cheese in between.” He stood and walked to the door, opening it wide for Joshua to walk out.

Joshua just sighed, accepting defeat. He gave a brief smile to Seungcheol before spinning out of his chair, walking out of the room.

The remaining eleven turned to Nana, waiting for a statement. They couldn’t control Jeonghan. He set his mind on burgers, he’s going to get burgers.

“Did you get a lead on anything?” She picked up a USB, inspecting it.

“Yeah actually, it’s not huge, but it’s something,” he sorted through the flash drives picking up a white one, “So the first thing is that it started three months ago with mine. But I noticed that for each one that failed, the reward is the exact same amount each time.” Then he reaches for the blue one, “This one shows that the ones that fled before one of us got there is that exactly two before we land, they leave.”

Nana nods along, tapping her heel on the floor, “I assign hunts three days or more before you guys fly out…”

“Massie and I don’t investigate until twenty-four hours before they set out,” Woozi wiggles his pencil, thinking long and hard.

Jun scratches his head. There must be something else. Then, his eyes land on the board. “Guys…” he sat up, eyes still lingering on the board, “Maybe we should also take account of whose missions are failing.”

All turn and look at the board. Seungcheol’s eyes widened. The gap between The8 and everybody else on the list was huge.

Minghao leaned back in his seat, “I knew it felt weird. There was just no way all of you were having off days.”

It’s true. For the past weeks, Seungcheol has been thrown. He blamed the distractions and his emotions but now it seemed to be making more sense. Jeonghan had been on the same boat, but for longer. As partners, they were unstoppable until recently, but before, when Jeonghan would get a solo mission, he’d been losing them. Same with Joshua.

“Starting tomorrow. You all are partnering with someone new for a while,” Nana stared hard at the scattered USBs. “Not until this gets sorted out. Especially you and Jeonghan.” She narrowed her eyes to Seungcheol.

A little offended, he argued, “We have a mission tonight-”

“And that will be the last,” She commanded, “Between the four of you, something is sabotaging it. And I can’t have a repeat of what happened last week. Baekho had shown concern of this partnership, so this will enforce it even more.”

He couldn’t argue. Not because he didn’t want to argue. It’s just that he knew it would be a lost cause. Baekho ranked higher than him and his opinion probably matter just a little bit more than his own. So he took it and accepted the decision.

 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

 

“He kissed you?” Joshua grabbed the tray from the oven and dropped it in the middle of the table. Jeonghan flicked a couple of the fries, wincing from the heat.

“Yup. And then he apologized for kissing me, and now he’s back to not speaking to me because he feels guilty that he didn’t do more to catch me,” The blond grumbles, placing lettuce and tomato on top of the patty. The two instantly fall back into their best friend ways when they left the conference room. Both knew neither could be mad for long. They depend on each other too much.

The brunet pursed his lips as he opened the new bottle of ketchup, “Well did you at least tell him you wanted the ultimatum?”

“Nope, he leaves the room once I enter,” Jeonghan grumbled, “Why is he making it so hard for me to ask him out?”

“Because you’re still too scared to ask him out,” Joshua teases, pointing a fry at him, “You’re scared to and you’re using his deflectiveness as an excuse. You just have to lay your ground and make him listen to you.”

Jeonghan knew he’s right. Timing is a bitch though. He has a mission with Seungcheol later tonight, and if he could just through that, maybe he could finally get through to the older.

 

The car ride is silent. Seungcheol isn’t the biggest fan of quietness. But he didn’t know what else there is to say. His grip on the wheel tightened when he remembers Baekho’s threat. He knew he’s not incapable of taking care of his partner, he hopes Jeonghan knows as well.

From his peripheral, he sees Jeonghan twirling the barrel of his revolver. Ever since their spontaneous kiss in the elevator the other week, Jeonghan had been a stuttering mess which was completely out of character. He realizes that the blond has been meaning to talk to him about something but with everything going on, they just never got around to it.

Parking the car, he pulls out his binoculars, peering into the second floor of the warehouse. “There’s about eight to ten of them, I think we’ll be fine.”

“Of course, we’ll be fine, it’s us,” Jeonghan states confidently.

Seungcheol feels a small smile form, “You know this is our last mission together.” From Jeonghan’s reaction, it seems that the blond didn’t know about that fact. “Yeah. After our last mission and the whole mole situation, they’re planning on splitting us up, repairing until things are settled.”

He saw the disappointment in Jeonghan’s eyes. He never thought he’d wish this, but he really did wish for simpler times when Jeonghan hated him and he was just after forgiveness.

The two entered the building quietly, taking out the one guard patrolling the first floor. Luckily for Jeonghan, the staircase wasn’t too fragile this time around, more metal than wood. Seungcheol whips out his iron, twisting the charred S on the tip, tossing a match inside a garbage can filled with cardboard boxes. Sticking in his iron for a couple seconds, he signals Jeonghan to got to the door. Counting down with his fingers, he begins sliding the burning bin in between him and the door. Making a fist, his partner kicks the door open, tumbling out of the way as Seungcheol kicks the bin inside knocking into two people.

Jeonghan already began his mission; walking towards one of the shorter men in the room, he shoots one of his men in the gut before twirling his blade menacingly. “Battista! Where ya going? Haven’t you heard?” Jeonghan smiles, “You have to pray when faced with an Angel.”

S.Coups shoots at one the man that began creeping behind The Angel before turning back around to pierce his iron into one of Battista’s assistants. His lips curved up slightly when he heard the screams of pain from being burned. “Ah yes, cry. Is this what all those boys sounded like when Battista and you killed them too?” Seungcheol dragged the man, throwing him into the flames of the garbage can.

These men were sadistic. Abduct who they want and torture them. Seungcheol has been itching to get these guys since news broke out of them. Since they’re sadists, they don’t find the need for guns. But, Seungcheol and Jeonghan do.

As he kicks a man on the ground, he watches as Jeonghan reemerges with a fist full of Battista’s shirt, dragging him across the floor. The man already bruised and bleeding. The Angel, lifted the man, successfully throwing him across the room before whipping out his gun, "I want the ultimatum," he grunted as he shot two bullets, getting two men right in the forehead.

At this point, Jeonghan didn’t care. He knew he was never going to be able to say it at any other point in time, so might as well do it when he has a good part of the man’s attention.

S.Coups twists the guard’s wrist behind his back before kicking him out the window. "What?" He turns and watches the Angel do a jumping round kick off the wall while simultaneously drawing out his blade, and with a flick of the wrist, it flew straight into the man's chest. He stared in awe; he couldn't understand how there wasn't even a speck of dust on the white denim of his jacket and jeans. 

The blond looked around to make sure everyone was taken care of before speaking again, "I said I want the ultimatum."

"I don't-" S.Coups yanked the Angel behind him before firing three shots into a stubborn goon. "Understand. What are you talking about?"

The two walked towards the exit, the younger nonchalantly taking his blade back and cleaning it with the dead man's shirt before sliding it back in its scabbard. "The morning after we slept together you said nobody picks the ultimatum. But I did. I wanted the ultimatum. I still do."

Seungcheol was not expecting this at all times. He waits for Jeonghan as he zip ties Battista’s arms and legs, and flips him so his face is towards the floor – back revealing a carved set of wings on his back.

The Angel straightens up and faces his partner once again, emotion spilling from his eyes. But the sound of sirens grabs them back to reality. “Every god damn time!” Jeonghan basically screams. He runs towards the door, grabbing Seungcheol’s hand in the process leading them out of the building, straight for his car. “I Just want five fucking minutes of your time, but no! Something has to ruin it! Five minutes that’s all I ask!”

They see the car, hidden in an alleyway, on the opposite side of where the police were coming from. Jeonghan was about ready to throw in the towel and just sleep in the car, but plans change. Like once Seungcheol stands his ground and pulls at their joined hands causing Jeonghan to stumble backward at the force. The older uses this to his advantage and immediately connects their lips together.

It’s like clockwork for Jeonghan, he doesn’t even hesitate to grab a fist full of the front of his shirt and pull him closer.

Breaking the kiss, Seungcheol swears he looked so love struck at the moment. If anyone was watching, it would have been evident when Jeonghan had leaned in a bit more, trailing after Seungcheol.

“I want the ultimatum,” Jeonghan whispered once more, “If the offer still stands and I didn’t fuck it up.”

 

Somewhere in the night, Jeonghan will try to remember how he ended up where he did. He’ll try to remember when exactly his feelings for Seungcheol developed, but he’ll fail. What he does remember is being slammed against his partner’s apartment door after their mission, then somehow winding up on the couch, finishing off in the bedroom, where he was currently laying down.

Does he regret it? Not at all. Especially since he’s wanted it for who knows how long.

“Do we tell people,” Jeonghan’s voice is soft. A hand stroking his arm. The blond was exhausted, but he didn’t want to fall asleep just yet. He hears Seungcheol rustling around behind him, feeling his hot breath near his ear, “What is there to tell?”

Jeonghan thought for a moment. He has a point. It takes two people to be in a relationship and not the entire world. But then again, they haven’t really established what they were exactly.

“Let’s just keep whatever we are, between us for now,” he turns his body as Seungcheol raises the blanket higher to cover his body.

“Well, What do you want us to be?”

He opened his eyes slowly, watching the mixture of emotions fly through his partner’s face. “I don’t care as long as there’s an us.”

On any normal day, The Angel would have gagged himself before anything close to cheesy would slip out of his mouth. But today, he felt like he had to say it. Because somehow, Seungcheol managed to do that to him. It’s true. He didn’t care what they would be labeled as, just as long as Seungcheol was his and they were together, he didn’t give a damn.

The older wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on the crown of his head, “Do I get a point for getting you?”

Jeonghan laughed a bit, inhaling the cologne that somehow still lingers on Seungcheol, “You wish.” He allowed sleep to consume him with the happiness he also felt.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

 

Jeonghan sat there, Head lolling to the side as he sat through the mandatory counseling with Nana and Baekho. Every time someone goes through a close call, they have to talk about their experience make sure it didn’t traumatize him. He would have us no qualms with it, but Baekho was present, so he has a problem. It’s been close to two weeks since the mission, couldn’t they just let it go like he did?

“Jeonghan are you listening?”

“Why is Baekho here and not Cheol? He’s my partner,” he whines.

“Jeonghan you could have-”

“Died! Yes, I know.”

“And S.Coups isn’t your partner anymore.”

The blond gives the two an unimpressed look as if what they were saying was completely false, “Yeah, okay. But once this whole stupid mole situation is settled, he’s my partner again.”

Nana looks up at him, a bit intrigued, “You two seem a lot closer.”

Not wanting to really answer why he chooses to shrug. “I mean yeah, I guess you can say that?”

“So, would you say he was a negligent partner?”

That was his last straw. Pushing himself off the chair, he gave both a disgusted look, “What the fuck is wrong with you two? In the beginning, all you did was hype him up saying he’s one of the best. Now you’re accusing him of being a shitty partner and intentionally let me fall? Are you fucking with me?” His anger is mostly directed to Nana. The fact that she even thought of asking that question baffled him. “Are you going to accuse him of being the mole now too? If you are, here’s your proof that he isn’t. He’s not! And I’m alive.”

“Because of-”

“Get off of your fucking high horse,” He spat at his ex, “I’d rather die than be saved by you again.”

“Jeonghan-”

“Bye, I’m leaving,” the blond sang as he left her office, “I’ll take Madman as my partner since I’m not able to work on my own.”

 

"I hate this!"

Seungcheol closes the door behind him, giving Jeonghan a skeptical look, "You hate everything?"

"That's not true," Jeonghan glances up from his phone briefly before continuing his text to Joshua, "I like to sleep and you and sleeping with you."

Jeonghan had texted him telling him to meet him in his office after his meeting with their boss. The younger was royally pissed at the fact that they really weren’t partners anymore and how Baekho seemed to be butting in anywhere possible. They’ve only been dating for three days, yet Jeonghan feels like they’ve been together for months.

The blond moves towards his desk, leaning on it. Pocketing his phone, he finally gives Seungcheol a good look. "Stop that." Jeonghan squints at him. He was only really giving him a sympathetic smile but it was already enough for him.

"I'm not doing anything," Seungcheol says innocently as he pulls him closer using the hem of his sweater.

"No stop. Put the dimple away." He lightly slaps his cheek as if that would magically cause it to disappear.

Pursing his lips (it only made the dimple more noticeable) "But why?"

"Because," his voice falters when he's suddenly sitting on his desk and Seungcheol's nose tracing up his neck, "Because- the dimple card is rude and it's a cheat."

Unknowingly he tilts his back, exposing his neck a bit more. He felt his (boyfriend? Colleague? Friends with benefits? Boy toy?) partner's bottom lip graze his Adam's apple, up to his chin, down his jaw nipping a trail.

"I thought you liked my dimples?"

"Fuck you," he groans when he began sucking on his collarbone. "Did you lock my door?"

"Hmm?"

"My... the door..." he suppresses a moan but fails. Especially when Seungcheol had his hands behind Jeonghan's knees pulling him closer to the point where he’s able to wrap his legs around his waist. 

"Of course, I-"

"JEONGHAN HAVE YOU SEEN-"

"-didn't." Seungcheol sighs, dropping his forehead on his shoulder, releasing his hold on his legs to place them on the desk, caging him in.

Seungkwan stood there staring at the two. The look on his face looked as if he struck gold. "Oh, I'm sorry was I interrupting something?"

Jeonghan gave a disapproving look to his partner, pushing him off, "A little bit." Hopping off the desk, he glares at Seungcheol once more before adjusting his sweater.

"Well sucks,” – The Ghost wiggled his eyebrows knowingly – “Hoshi wants to talk to Coups. The job DF assigned him is finally a two-person job and he wanted to see if you were up for it?”

The oldest nodded, getting ready to walk about but was stopped when Jeonghan grabbed his hand to pull him in for a quick peck.

Seungcheol tilts his head a bit, as if he was questioning Jeonghan’s intentions, “I thought you wanted to keep things between us?” He asks softly.

“Boo saw us. Within the next ten minutes, it’s not going to be a secret.” The blond hums back. Seungcheol seemed to agree, nodding his head slightly, planting one more kiss before he was pushed out Jeonghan did not miss the shit-eating grin on Seungkwan’s face. Not even getting the chance to close his door he hears, “Wonwoo guess the fuck what I just saw!”

  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  

 

Nayoung walks over to Kyulkyung’s desk where all her friends were gathered. Ailee stood next to Kyulkyung, biting her nails, while Rena and Roa are still seated in their chairs but rolled in a position to get a clearer view of the conference room. All their eyes were glued to the four bodies in the room.

“What’s going on?” Nayoung pops some chocolate chips in her mouth, staring at them as well.

“We’re trying to see what they’re talking about,” Ailee mumbles. “Five bucks they’re getting the talk.”

“No way,” Roa shakes her head, “Shua’s probably telling them he’s disappointed in them while Woozi is the angry dad.”

Kyulkyung seemed to disagree, “I bet they’re having an intervention for Joshua about Vernon.”

All at once, the girl collectively had an ‘Aha!’ moment, completely agreeing with what the latter said.

 

“You guys banged multiple times and it was because of me!” Woozi spun around in the rolling chair triumphantly, “And now you guys are dating! Damn. Put me in a diaper and call me Cupid.”

“Wrong! I did this! I told Jeonghan to stop fucking around and just fess up. So, I get half your paycheck,” Joshua challenged.

Apparently, the two respective best friends had placed a bet on who could get them together in the most effective manner. Woozi is fully convinced it was his constant pestering about them hooking up while Joshua thinks it’s his scolding and disappointing looks that got Jeonghan to crack.

 The two continue to bicker while the couple looks on, bored. At this point, Seungcheol grows tired and leans his head against Jeonghan’s shoulder, to which Jeonghan responds by bending his arm up to play with his earlobe. “I don’t get why you two are arguing about our relationship when you two have some fixing up to do with your own.”

Both snap their heads around, Joshua looked offended while Woozi’s face became disgruntled.

“There’s nothing to sort out.”

“I have no relationship.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol gave each other a side eye, obviously not buying whatever they were saying. “You and Hoshi just need to bang.” Jeonghan pointed at Woozi.

Seungcheol’s stare fell on Joshua, “And you need to stop and just accept the poor boy’s feelings.” Both extremely delighted that they got to use their friend’s arguments against them.

When neither received anything in response, Seungcheol nudged the blond’s arm with his forehead, a gesture that said he wanted to leave. Giving them one more look, Jeonghan got up, grabbing Seungcheol’s arm to waltz out of the conference room.

Seungcheol waves at his female co-workers who had their eyes glued on them, wrapping one arm around Jeonghan’s shoulder, heading for the elevators.

The Angel detests public displays of affection. But something about his relationship with Seungcheol just makes him want to flaunt it around, in a way saying “Yeah, he’s mine.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm Back Bitches. Lol sorry for any mistakes and if it seems rushed, I promise i took so long with this chapter. I guess the next couple will take a bit to come out since it's hard to have in betweeners. A couple more chapter till this story meets the end! See ya'll later


	11. A mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance for this mess  
> This one's a very dialogue oriented

***

 

Relationships are built off of trust, love, and understanding. Without trust, there is no love and without love, there will be nothing to try to understand. So when someone breaks the other’s trust, what are you left with? And angry partner. “You liar!”

And just like that; betrayal.

Vernon somehow manages to fall to the ground in panic while Joshua scrambles up, trying to get himself to look proper, but to no avail. “W-why aren’t you at Seungcheol’s?”

“Because I’m here,” The older walked behind Jeonghan, leaning to the side to see the commotion (it came out muffled since there was a toothbrush in his mouth). “Oh… You _are_ a liar.”

“I can explain!”

Joshua has broken the trust.

“You guys are together! Without my knowledge?”

“You’re screwed,” Seungcheol sang as he continued to brush his teeth, leaving them to return to the bathroom.

Joshua looks at his best friend who’s tapping his foot with impatience, then at his boyfriend whom nobody knew they were dating. Vernon looks just as scared. “It was a mutual agreement to keep it a secret!”

“Dude!”

He shoots an apology to Vernon for throwing him under the bus with him, but it’s his sad attempt at trying to reason with Jeonghan.

Both tries. They really do. They try to find a way out of the situation they’re stuck in. How does one get out of explaining to their best friend that they’ve been dating for almost three months behind his back? They can’t. Nobody can get out of this situation.

“Babe, come on, just let them live,” Seungcheol slowly pulls him away from the door. Nobody unless they’re Seungcheol in this case.

“But! They- He! I didn’t! Cheol!” Jeonghan continues to stare at them even as he was being moved away.

“baby just let it go, it happened,” He shakes his head, giving a brief wave towards the two before closing the door.

“Seungcheol just became my favorite person,” Joshua releases a sigh of relief. “But good luck later.”

Vernon rubs his eye, “Why?”

“You have a mission with him.”

 

 

***

 

 

Ignoring his little surprise this morning, Jeonghan couldn’t be happier. His missions have been a success, and he and Seungcheol have been going strong. Whenever he’d finish a mission he has someone to go home to with either a beer, food or a soft bed. He’s never alone anymore and he loves it. Is this what a relationship is like? If so, Jeonghan’s pretty upset he’s been missing out. Only slightly though since nobody else was really worth his time.

People who knew about their relationship were impressed, to say the least. Not only did Seungcheol manage to get with Jeonghan, but after a month of dating, Jeonghan shows no sign of frustration, boredom or in need of convincing to stay in the relationship. They applaud him.

“What do you do?” Chan corners Seungcheol him in the gym while the older is at the bench press. Balancing the bar back on its stand, he sits up to face his hovering co-worker, not really understanding what the question is asking. “You know. Jeonghan. He’s actually into you. Are you like paying him? Is this some kind of secret mission he’s being put up to?”

“I don’t think so…” Seungcheol gives him an odd look, reaching past him to drink his water, “I mean, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah, it is,” Chan laughs, “Jeonghan sucks at dating and he hates it. After a month he usually gives up, but yet here you guys are.”

Flattered that people were interested in his relationship with Jeonghan, it just didn’t seem appropriate to talk about it with his significant other in the same room. “I treat him like how I treat all my past relationships. I care about them, I treat them right. I don’t know what else I’m doing to make him stay, but I’m glad he’s still here and not giving up.”

Seungcheol watches as Chan leaves him alone once again, unsure of what the whole talk was about. All he knew was today was a weird day.

 

Jeonghan pokes his head inside his boyfriend’s doorway later that day to see if he was inside, accidentally scaring Seungcheol who was on his way out. “Oh, hey!”

“I have a mission with Vernon so I’ll meet you afterward?” He leans against the door frame, already dressed.

Seungcheol eyes his outfit, scoffing at Jeonghan’s bold move, “Are you wearing the clothes for our dinner already?”

“Do you know who you’re talking to?” The blond rolls his eyes, “It’s just a white dress shirt. There’s no way I can stain this.”

“Still,” Seungcheol places a hand on the nape of Jeonghan’s neck, “I’d really appreciate it if you showed up to dinner not looking a mess.”

“We don’t have to celebrate. It’s only a month Cheol.”

“Longer than any of your previous relationships I bet.” He smiles remembering his mini chat with Chan about how Jeonghan’s ineptness at keeping a relationship.

He raised his finger to retaliate but stops, trying to think of a comeback. “No, I dated Baekho.”

“And how long did that last?”

Jeonghan opens his mouth again but is left with nothing. “A year? No! Less than that… Nine… eight months? It was around that.”  
“And this is why we’re doing it,” Seungcheol laughs, rubbing his thumb on the back of his neck, “So you’ll actually care to remember.”

“I’ll remember. I never cared for any relationship anyway,” Jeonghan smiles. “But I care about this one.”

“I’ll know you care if you show up on time.”

“Of course!”

“Don’t die!”

“Don’t die,” Jeonghan mocks his boyfriend, “Of course I’m not going to die. I’m fucking invincible.”

 

 

***

 

 

To say the car ride’s awkward is an understatement. Vernon is technically trapped in a metal death trap that moves with Jeonghan in the passenger seat. A not so very happy Jeonghan.

“So how’s your d-”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.” He quickly closed his mouth. If he could compare his boyfriend’s best friend to anything at all, it’d be a German Shepherd. They look all cute and fluffy with their tongues out, all soft and cuddly but the moment someone makes a wrong move, their sharp teeth start snapping at them and they’ll bark and growl trying to protect their territory and all that’s left to do is run away terrified in hopes the vicious animal won’t follow. That’s Jeonghan to the T.

“Have you spoken to Josh already?”

“Yes, I have,” He replies, “Snakes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Jeonghan smiles slightly, “I’m pissed you guys hid it from me, but I’m happy you two are together. As long as you guys are happy.” Vernon has an inkling of warmth in his chest, happy that Jeonghan doesn’t really hate him. “But I’m still mad, so fuck you too.”

Pulling into the parking lot, the two enter the run-down casino. They’re there to kill the members of the gang Xi clan who are inside to draw out the last of them so they could be done for, once and for all.

With absolutely no hesitation, the Madman pulls out a grenade, biting onto the safety lever, pulls at it, chucking it in the second story window. They admire the mini light show briefly as the second floor blows up causing smoke and dust to come out of the window. Screams come from the first floor as the ceiling collapses.

“Quick and efficient. Why am I never your partner?” Jeonghan chuckles, readying his blade and pistol for the onslaught of Xi gang members to come running out.

“Because both of us are capable of taking out a gang on our own,” Vernon whips out two handguns. “Keep count, there’s no way I’m losing to you because of this mission.”

When both hear feet charger out of the building, the Angel gives him a quick smirk, accepting the challenge, “Ready when you are.”

Adrenaline pumps through them as they took down every rapist, abductor and drug smuggler in sight. When they’re left with lifeless bodies around them, they’re about to give themselves a job well done until one person moves.

It happens fast. Vernon isn't himself at the moment, he's a madman. He watched as one of the perps rise to his feet taking aim straight at him. Without any hesitation, he fires three bullets towards the gang member. But it was a second too late. As soon as the three bullets land in their target one last bullet flies out of the dead man’s barrel. Jeonghan turns on reflex and appears in the crossfire, blocking Vernon as a bullet lodges itself in his side. Madman stares at the teetering body then to his current partner. He lifts his hand and places on top of his stomach. The white button up absorbing the blood.

Looking directly into Vernon's eyes, he lets out a small laugh, "You’re shitting me."

Running towards him, he catches him before he topples over, “Jeonghan, you’re going to be fine.”

“Sol, this is a new shirt,” Jeonghan grumbles weakly, “Damn, Cheol’s gonna kill me. I’m gonna be sooo late tonight.”

Madman scans his body, thankfully it wasn’t in such a critical area, but it will still do a lot of damage if not treated. The best thing is that he’s going to stay alive. “Man, I promise, he’s going to kill you for getting shot instead of tardiness.” Vernon ripped his blazer, tying it around his body, to put pressure and try to stop the bleeding. “Let’s patch your ass up.”

“Good idea… Wake me when I’m shot up with morphine,” Jeonghan rasps out before passing out.

 

 

 ***

 

 

Sprinting inside the medical floor of the building, Seungcheol finds Vernon slouching in a chair with Joshua next to him. He approaches the metal doors only to be stopped by nurses on the other side. Ignoring them, he tries jiggling the doors open but it was no use.

“I will honestly burn your ass alive let me in!" He banged on the clinic's door. Are they really not going to let his own boyfriend in while they take out a bullet from his body?

His worry was short-lived sadly since Baekho has somehow gotten wind of what happened; Seungcheol could only assume since his face was void of any emotion besides rage. "I fucking told you-"

Before Baekho could even finish his accusation, Seungcheol had spun around to punch him square in the jaw. He knows what the other bounty hunter was going to say. And he wasn’t about to sit around and listen to his bullshit when he did absolutely nothing wrong. In hindsight, this was all Baekho’s fault. "Shut up. Because of you, I wasn't his partner! So, don't you blame me."

“Jeonghan got shot-”

“No shit Sherlock!” He pushes Jeonghan’s ex back once more. He attempts to go around S.Coups to only be pushed back. "They won't let his partner in so why would they let you in?"

“I’m his superior.”

“And I’m his partner.”

"I care about him!"

"Give me a break,” Seungcheol slides his hand down his face, “I’m his God damn boyfriend!”

Checkmate. He takes satisfaction in the way Baekho’s looking at him.

"You're his what?"

"Boyfriend. Fuck buddy. Source of pleasure and happiness. Food giver. Uber driver. Partner. Boyfriend." He tried to find synonyms for the word, he thinks he did pretty well. "It's been official for about a month. But we've been intimate for about three. Just thought I'd clarify."

“Just leave man,” Vernon sighs, rubbing his temples. He still didn’t understand how he could be so careless and not see that one was still alive. “Promise you, if the first person he sees when he wakes up is you,” he points to Baekho carelessly, “he’d just ask you where he is.” His finger swings over to Seungcheol, “So just drop the angst and sit down. Let Seungcheol be the extra worried boyfriend while you join us,” Vernon spreads his arms, referring to himself and Joshua, “the worried side characters of their novel.”

The comment evidently upset Baekho, prompting him to leave the medical wing. Vernon feels as if he owes Seungcheol an explanation as to what exactly went down, so he tells him. Not very sure where to start, he begins with a simple apology. He tells him how it all happened and how he was more than ready to face the bullet head on (not literally but he had to elaborate so Joshua wouldn’t freak out on him) but Jeonghan reflexively got in the way. “Why is he such a dad?”

The two are a bit thrown at Seungcheol’s reaction. But it makes sense in the end. Jeonghan really does care much like a dad does. He protects his colleagues, scolds them and takes care of them much like a dad would.

 

Hours pass and the crowd to see Jeonghan grew. Finally, a nurse came out of the room allowing visitors since he surgery was a success.

They allowed Seungcheol to go in first since he was most likely the most worried out of all of them and most anxious to see their Angel.

Seungcheol sees Jeonghan laying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. When he calls his name, the blond throws his head to the side to face him. A smile forms on his face, “Oh my gosh…” he whispers, “it’s the boyfriend.”

“How are you feeling?”

Jeonghan sniffs before scratching his cheek, giggling for some odd reason, “You’re so pretty.” Once Seungcheol got close enough, the younger began flapping his arm at him, trying to get him to come closer, “You’re so freaking beautiful… like wow. Gay.”

“Oh my God you’re high,” he pets Jeonghan’s head, “Did you ask for drugs?”

“Nope!” He denies but he’s nodding his head at the same time.

“Do you want me to stay here with you?”

“Yes,” His head shoots up excitedly, “You have to make sure the hole in my stomach doesn’t eat me.”

 

 

***

 

 

Nothing really gets done in the office since everybody spent the past two days visiting Jeonghan in the medical wing (when he wasn’t high off of morphine). Joshua stops by with some clothes for Jeonghan to change into when he’s finally discharged while Seungcheol got some real rest in an actual bed.

“What was Chan talking about,” Jeonghan does not look too pleased to see his boyfriend. Seungcheol feels like he did something wrong with the way the blond is looking at him. It’s only been twelve hours since the last time he’s seen him, he couldn’t have done something wrong at that time. Approaching his bed with caution, he places the food on his tray, while taking a seat next to him. “I’ll let you know if you tell me what he was talking about.”

“He said that I’m just another relationship to you,” his jaw locks, “That I’m just like everyone else you’ve dated.” Surprised that his words were twisted like that, he’s even more surprised by the extreme look of betrayal of Jeonghan’s face, “Because if that’s true tell me so I don’t waste my time with someone who isn’t serious about this.”

“No! Oh my gosh that isn’t it at all!” He repositions himself in his seat, ready to explain himself, “That’s not what I meant or said. He was asking how I managed to attract you and I said I don’t know because I don’t know. So, I said I treat you with the same respect as I do with other relationships NOT saying that you are like my other relationships, it’s just that I was trying to prove a point because he was asking if I was paying you to stay in the relationship and I wanted to point out that I am not really doing anything special than caring and respecting you like how you should be!”

And just like that, he shrugs, accepting his apology with on other qualms. Seungcheol asks repeatedly if everything is okay since he looked extremely displeased a couple of minutes ago but it seems that it just blew over.

Jeonghan laughs at the worry line on his forehead. Reaching for his hand, he tugs Seungcheol closer to the hospital bed making him sit next to him, “I believe you don’t worry. I promise. I’m just a really low maintenance guy.”

 

_Two weeks later_

"I'm fine."

"Shut up."

"It's true."

"Shut up." A different voice chimed in. 

"Thank you, Joshua."

"Always here to help."

"Fuck you, Joshua.”

Using Seungcheol as his support crutch, he limps into his apartment, settling on the couch. His boyfriend lets 's go of his hold only to be pulled back down to sit on the couch with the needy Angel.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Seungcheol smiles at his pouting boyfriend, relaxing on the couch. _‘Low maintenance my ass.’_ He wraps an arm around him carefully, not to jostle him too much to his stitches wouldn't reopen, "apparently nowhere."

Looking up at the hand placed on his shoulder, he grins at Joshua who seemed to grasp that Seungcheol was going to be the personal nurse for the day. "I'll tell Nana she won't be seeing you for a couple of days."

Sending his thanks, the two repositioned to where the older was lying down on the couch with the blond wedged between Seungcheol's side and the couch, head resting on his chest, watching reruns of Goblin.

"So like, is getting you to bed off the table?"

Kissing the top of his head without tearing his gaze from the TV, he cards his fingers through the blond locks, "Is that even a question? Unless we're cuddling, or taking a nap, yes, it is off the table."

"I hate everything about you." But actions speak louder than words; even though his words are aggressive, it's quite obvious how he feels when he tightens his grip around his boyfriend's waist.

Thinking for a minute to try to respond to it, Seungcheol gave in and just nodded along, "Yeah, sounds about right."

 

There is no denying it. Both Seungcheol and Jeonghan are living off of a domestic bliss. The older has been taking care of the injured bounty hunter for about a week now and he can't help but love the domesticated feeling.

The two would wake up next to each other, fool around under the covers (nothing too serious because of his wound), then Seungcheol would make breakfast for the two, sometimes three if Joshua was home, of them. 

During the afternoon, the two would go out and look for new places to try the food as well as some grocery shopping. When they'd arrive home, they'd find themselves back on the couch watching whatever movie is on. 

"I heard Train to Busan was good," Jeonghan laid back, placing his head on Seungcheol's lap, popcorn bowl on his stomach.

"Okay, but I thought you wanted to finish Descendants of the Sun?"

"Nana said I wasn't allowed to come back for another week so I have time."

"Well I'm going back in two days, so pick your choosing."

Frowning at the fact Jeonghan threw a popcorn kernel at his face. 

Getting shot had its silver lining. Without it, he wouldn't have been on medical leave and Seungcheol wouldn't be on personal leave. It was the first time both of them got to feel normal in a long time. _‘Is this what regular people do every day?'_

Not having to travel every week, and point some sort of weapon at someone to get answers. Not having to chase down the runners who try to escape. Not having to worry if today was going to be your last day to breathe. 

It made Jeonghan think if he wanted an out. His wound wasn't life-threatening but this was the second time in a span of a year that he's been close to it. 

Looking up at his boyfriend's face who seemed to be occupied flipping through channels while shoving his mouth with popcorn. But even then, he had his lifestyle to thank for giving him the opportunity to meet Seungcheol.

A knock could be heard through the apartment, and for some odd reason, Jeonghan didn't feel too good about it. Lifting his head so the older could get up, he laid back down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. 

Seungcheol swung the door open, fully expecting Vernon or Joshua who forgot his key, only to see Baekho standing there with a shocked look on his face.

"Where's Josh?"

"With Madman..." Seungcheol wears a confused look on his face. 

"Why are you here?"

He blinked at the question. Slowly, he pointed to himself, giving the other man a look of disbelief. "Boyfriend…?" Then turns index finger to point at Baekho, "Ex-boyfriend."

"Hey, dickhead who's at the door?"

"Ex-boyfriend." He repeated without tearing his gaze.

"Dongho?" The youngest sat up on the couch, making himself visible to the world. Standing, he placed the bowl on the coffee table as he joined the other two at the door. "What are you doing here?" Naturally wrapping his arms around Seungcheol's waist, pressing his cheek to his shoulder, out of clinginess since he was only wearing a black tank top and he didn't want him to get cold with the door open.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing and if you needed anything."

"Nah, Cheol has been taking care of me," he smiled when he remembered how Seungcheol's been fussing about him over the past couple of days, "But thanks, I've been doing a lot better."

"Well, let me know if I can do anything for you okay?"

"Of course!" As Seungcheol closed the door Baekho could clearly hear Jeonghan's excited voice over the thick door, "CHEOL! Let's watch Okja when Josh gets back!" 

"What happened to Train of Busan?"

Yes. Domestic bliss. Something Baekho didn't get to experience with him. Which made the glaring fact that Seungcheol was definitely not going anywhere, _ever_ , even brighter.

 

 

*** 

 

 

"Long time no see," Kyulkyung chimes, handing him an assignment folder, "How's our Angel?"

"Whiny." He scrunched his nose in response to the laugh.

"Tell him he's got PT with me and I'll be clearing him for his missions."

"Good luck. He's gonna hate you by the end of it." He laughs walking to his Woozi's office only to stop when he hears voices.

"Come on Hoon, just this once."

"Soonyoung I can't."

"Yes, you can, but you won't."

"It’s been two years since I've done it. And I'm not doing it again. Especially with you."

"I won't even be near him, I need to pocket his phone and you can do your thing."

"I'm not shooting him with you and a bunch of innocent people in the room. Not again."

"You can shoot?"

The two turn to see Seungcheol who finally decided to enter. 

"He's the best sniper Korea's got and he's just letting his talent rust." Soonyoung hissed walking out. 

Connecting the dots once more, he realizes Snakes Eyes didn't mean a good eye on the computer. And that he was literally standing in front of the best sniper in East Asia. 

"Why'd you stop?" He decided not to beat around the bush. 

"On a mission, I was back up. I had eyes on the guy, ready. But when I took the shot... idiot Soonyoung miss-stepped and ended up shooting his leg." He threw his pencil on his desk angrily, “One of my biggest mistakes and I almost cost Hoshi his leg.”

Seungcheol never took Woozi as being the one to back out when things get scary. It is as bad as it sounds. Shooting your own partner in a leg, let alone using a sniper. That is pretty damn scary.

“The worst thing that could happen is that you kill him, and when in doubt, send a drone,” The taller pats his shoulder walking about of his office to step into his own. For someone who wasn’t too fond of showing emotions or getting emotionally involved, Woozi was really wearing his heart on his sleeve.

When he turns on the lights of his office, his eyes travel immediately to the small hole in his wall, the one Jeonghan had left at the beginning of their partnership from Azrael. As if his boyfriend knew he was thinking about him, his phone rings.

“Hello?” He answers, lightly running his fingers over the hole. Seungcheol listens intently about how bored he is and how there’s absolutely nothing to do even though he was with the blond not even three hours ago. But his mind is somewhere else. Thinking about how he got into the position he’s in.

 _‘Because of those kills…’_ His face falls, unsure how to feel.

He has to find out who killed Jeonghan’s dad.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to formally apologize. I know exactly where I want this story to go and I write down the most important scenes first and I usually manage to work around them but I've been stuck since two chapters ago because I CANT! So i combined what I had for two chapters and made it one and it still wasn't as long as i hoped and I want to combust and I am so sorry. I'm going to try real hard with the remaining three chapters to get them perfect  
> (also I am posting the bonus chapter to SML the same time as well as my new story, so if you want to read the new story plus SML, do SML first)


	12. All I Got

"Come on please," Seungcheol gives Kyulkyung a smile. But it was short lived when he feels a stack of papers hit the back of his head.

"The dimples. Make them disappear." 

Immediately Seungcheol sucked in his lips, not wanting to have Jeonghan go on about how he uses his dimple to lowkey flirt with everyone later.

Giving the younger an innocent smile, he wraps an arm around his shoulders as an impromptu “welcome back” to work. It’s his first day back after getting a hole driven into his body and was told to take it easy. That didn’t make the Angel all too happy, but it’s mandatory for everyone who’s gone through something like that. To see a therapist as well as going through physical training before going back into the field. They even made Minghao talk to him about it from a personal experience.

“Answer’s no still,” She stacks the papers, pinching his cheeks before leaving the couple alone.

Seungcheol’s intentions were simple. Take Kyulkyung’s place in Jeonghan’s PT so he himself can monitor his own recovery time.

“Stop hovering, that’s what made me hate my last boyfriend,” Jeonghan pats his chest, “Although I like the subtlety. Makes it more bearable.”

“Does that mean you’re going to break up with me because I care about you and spent the last month bringing you food for nothing,” Seungcheol fake pouts.

“It means I’m gonna ignore you for the next twelve hours,” He reaches past S.Coups to get his own file to report to their boss, “I like you too much to break up with you sadly.”

“Aww… More fun for me,” He feigns sadness, giving him a quick kiss as a parting before heading into his office. Making sure nobody was going to come in, he locks the door, rushing over to his couch, pulling a bulletin board out from underneath. Strings, post-it notes, and papers all covered the board, trying to connect all the dots. “Who exactly is behind all of this?”

 

 

*** 

 

 

Seungcheol didn't mean to get hung up on it, but ever since they started dating, that’s all he could think about. It was eating him alive. For the past month, he’s been doing his own digging with as little resources and help he could get. He knows he’s only been able to scratch the surface, but there has to be more to it than just his dad got killed and two bounties dropping dead. The more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt about taking his bounty-

Abruptly sitting up, he turned to Jeonghan’s sleeping figure – he was in a god-awful position, with his arm dangling off the bed and his body in twisted angles he couldn’t understand. “Shit.”

It’s already almost two in the morning and there’s just no way he’s going to let this go until he really gets the answers.

Immediately, he got up, exiting the room, quietly closing the door behind him before barging into his boyfriend’s best friend’s roommate room.

“Cheol?”

Seungcheol looked around before finding Joshua sitting on the floor with Vernon on the edge of the bed, massaging the older’s shoulders. 

“What are you still doing up?”

“We’re going out right now,” He demands while hopping on one foot, trying to put on his shoes, “and I need both of your help.”

Stopping the treatment, when the eldest tossed both of them the guns on the table, they gave him a curious look, “What’s this about?”

Sending a quick text to Woozi, he walks out, “I’ll tell you once we get to Tempest’s headquarters.”

“Woah,” Vernon got up, strapping his holsters all over his body. “What are we going to do there?”

Seungcheol came back into the room handing Joshua his favorite pistol as he fixed his shirt, he whipped out his iron which immediately elongated before snapping the ’S’ on the end, “Scare the shit out of my old boss.” 

 

To his surprise, his access card still worked on the building. _‘Idiots’_ Seungcheol rolls his eyes. He nods his head to the left where Joshua tip-toes off towards and unsurprisingly, Vernon has already disappeared.

Not one to be subtle, he barges through the main doors, making his presence known. “You know I was expecting a warmer welcome!” Seungcheol’s voice echoed throughout the headquarters, catching everyone by surprise.

“S.Coups!” One of his old co-workers aimed a gun at him while the others watched in shock, not expecting to ever see him inside ever again.

Rolling his eyes, he spun the man’s arm around, successfully aiming the gun away from him before punching him in the nose. “Still as stupid as ever I see.”

“Coups. What are you doing here?” Sungsoo came out of his office to see one of his bounty hunters on the floor next to his ex-bounty hunter’s feet.

“Not allowed to say hi?” He shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “Stop by… Mingle a little bit. Greet my old man and grab my old files?”

“I’m afraid that is the property of Tempest; I can’t release them to you; no matter who you are under.”

“Come on boss man, can’t you be lenient for once?” Seungcheol sat on one of the desks, allowing Tempest hunters to continue to stare. “I was the reason you were up in the top ten anyway.” He really hated the fact that Tempest never went digital. It was really the only smart move they’ve done.

“But you’re also the reason we got kicked out and the reason Diamond Edge was bumped to number two.” Sungsoo replied monotone, “I owe you nothing. And if it weren’t for that fact, and from the fact that Snake Eyes is watching us right now,” All eyes traveled to each security camera that was pointing straight at them, “I’d have put a bullet in you by now.”

Suddenly, one of the hunters collapsed, revealing Joshua who twirled an empty syringe in his hand. “I’d love to see you even think about that again.”

“Did you just kill her?”

“Do you think I kill for no reason?” He scoffed, “Coups, what kind of boss is he?”

“You all know The Gentleman, right?”

They watched as people took a couple of steps away from the renown bounty hunter who pulled out the pistol before pointing it at the motionless body, “Give me a reason to kill her and I won’t hesitate.” Joshua’s voice deadpanned. It sounded so elegant yet so terrifying.

Seungcheol hums in delight when he sees the anxiety in his former employer’s eyes, “Hand over the files, before The Gentleman’s partner gets impatient.”

“What’s the Angel going to do?”

“Oh! Haven’t you heard?” S.Coups feigned excitement, “The Angel’s my partner!”

Creaking came from above, before one of the ceiling tiles fell to the ground, followed by Vernon gracefully dropping from the vents in front of Sungsoo, giving him a bright smile. The face caused Tempest’s contractor to stumble back in evident fear.

“Madman.” Tempest’s boss stutters. Every contractor new Madman’s face. Every contractor feared Madman almost as much as they feared any Phantasia hunter; maybe even more.

Instantly, Vernon’s face morphed into an extremely stoic emotion, whipping out a handgun before shooting near Sungsoo’s feet causing him to crawl backward before hitting the wall, “I’m The Gentleman’s new partner.”

The youngest out of the three of them hand Seungcheol the keys to the desk drawers (he somehow managed to steal them from Sungsoo's pockets without anyone realizing).

"W-what do you guys want?"

"Like I said," Seungcheol skimmed through the manila folders before finding all of his, shoving them under his arm. "I needed to find my files and you have the exact ones I need."

"Follow us and try something funny; you're dead," Vernon sang swinging his phone back and forth as he heads towards the door. 

Chuckling, both Joshua and Seungcheol followed him out, "what the hell did you do?"

"I put a bomb in the vents!" Madman all but screams it in Tempest's headquarters. And sure enough, when Sungsoo looks up in the gaping hole of his ceiling, he sees a green light flickering in the darkness. "Don't worry, it's not armed. You know, until you piss me off. So, you attend to taking that out, and you make sure your little minions don't do anything stupid."

As they exit the headquarters the three could distantly hear Sungsoo ordering them not to go within two hundred feet of the door.

Joshua turns on his car stealing so glances at Seungcheol trough the rear-view mirror. "What's in the files?"

"Answers."

 

 

***

 

 

"Where the hell have you guys been?" The three were greeted by Azrael being launched at them, the blade embedding itself in the wall next to the front door. Jeonghan stood in the middle of the living room in his sweats and an oversized shirt with a smiley face on it (although his face was all but smiling). "You know how fucking confusing it is to wake up alone? Not just in bed but in this whole apartment!"

Seungcheol took a glance at the clock, it was definitely not a good time for Jeonghan to be awake, especially since they all didn't leave for work until four hours later. 

Placing the files on the table, he gave Joshua and Vernon a look to get them to leave. "Jeonghan, I think we're one step closer to finding out who killed your dad."

"How?"

"It can't be a coincident that I took out Lai and Ruki a day before you. I had a hunch earlier that's why we left to get my old files and to see who ordered the hunt," Seungcheol turned a file over, "The ACD assigns your cases. The contractors who aren’t in the top five don't get those cases. We get scouted out by people who don’t want to do it themselves. I was paid in cash to do these kills, by the same person. We get anonymous assignments all the time but he left a signature,” He points to the bottom of the file, “SY. That's the guy."

"Do you know what this means?"

"That I was right?"

"Not only that," the younger began pacing around, "That means someone inside the ACD is working against them. They didn't send me to Malaysia and Japan to kill Lai and Ruki. The bounty status was to have them alive, I could interrogate but without verbal proof, we'd have nothing."

"So, wait what are you saying? That there's a mole in ACD?"

"I'm saying there is no doubt that there is a mole in ACD, Phantasia, or Diamond Edge."

 

 

*** 

 

 

“That’s too many people,” Nana bit her nail, walking back and forth in Woozi’s office. “There are thirty-five people under DE, Phantasia as at least sixty while ACD has over a hundred. There’s no possible way for us to find out who it is.”

“Well, there’s got to be a tie to what happened with Jeonghan’s dad and Spade,” Seungcheol leans over Woozi’s chair, watching him work.

The tech analyst shakes his head. Of course, he could narrow it down, but there are just too many factors put in and not enough information. “I could weed out the ones who take out large sums of money at sporadic times, but half of us do that. Jeonghan does it every seventeen days. I could see their schedules, all of us don’t have set one ever.”

After a couple of seconds, Nana’s phone goes off, already knowing who it is. “Yoona?”

“Fox, why is Snake Eyes in our system?”

“There’s a very high possibility of a mole in either ours, yours or ACD…”

The line is silent for a bit; the head contractors ask who’s all in the room; she informs Yoona it’s only her, Snake Eyes, S.Coups, and The Angel. “Put me on speaker.” Diamond Edge’s boss holds the phone out so everyone can hear, “This is White Tail speaking; Head of Phantasia and of all Bounty Hunters, what’s this about a mole?”

“I’m sure you’ve already heard of the corruption in Spade, correct?” Jeonghan finally speaks. The person on the other line hums as a response, “Well, there’s evidence, that S.Coups has found that shows foul-play in cases that I was assigned to last year. People who’ve been tied to the murder of my father.”

There’s the sound of clicking and typing heard, “Yes I see, it shows here that they were found dead before you got to them, by… S.Coups… I see where you’re going with this.”

“There’s reason to believe that I was paid to kill the two before The Angel could get to them.”

“We’ll look into it, don’t get into too much trouble.”

The line went dead right after.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol walk out of Woozi’s den, unsure how to take the information. Both hunters knew they couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. It’d be too tough to try to even pull on over their boss’ head.

“I need some air,” Jeonghan sighs, not feeling comfortable to be inside the headquarters.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No.”

Unsure how to take the tone in his voice, Seungcheol just watches as Jeonghan leaves the building. He didn’t like how helpless he felt.

But he’s going for broke at this point. What else could he do? Jeonghan has the stress of getting back into the swing of things as well as the entire mole situation topped with the chance of it tying with the murder of his dad.

Seungcheol needs to know more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna go MIA so might as well post what i got


	13. Our Angel

  

“Have you seen Jeonghan anywhere?”

The blond has been disappearing a lot more frequently than usual and it has Seungcheol extremely concerned. He knows how much finding out who killed his father and putting him down meant to Jeonghan but he’d thought that he’d at least confide in himself or Joshua.

“Left early. He said something about visiting his mom?” Chan rushes past him, “Did he not tell you?”

Unable to get a word in with their youngest bounty hunter, he drops his hands to his side. Sighing with defeat he trudges to his office. Expecting to just drop himself om his desk chair, he’s a bit taken aback to see a box on top of his desk. The signature SY on the top.

Running out of his office he demands everyone’s attention, “Who was in my office?” he locks eyes with Woozi, a clear signal of distress. The shorter drops whatever papers in his hands and moves straight towards Seungcheol. Both rush back inside his office, “That’s been sitting on my desk for who knows how long. It’s marked SY and I highly doubt it’s Hoshi playing games.”

The tech analyst surveys the package closely. When he deems it fit to be open, Seungcheol does so extremely cautiously.

How the hell was this possible? They had just made a breakthrough in the case not even three days ago, and now he has what could be a lead or a message from the one person they’re trying to find? It’s too easy.

He watches as Woozi opens it carefully, not even ripping the tape. Slowly, he turns the flaps over and pulls out what looks like a stack of files and a small sticky note.

**Want him? Fetch.**

There, the box contained information on a man who goes by Sungyoon as an alias.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Go check the security cameras.”

 

 

 ***

 

 

“We need a plan.”

“No, we need him dead.”

“I second that!” Jeonghan scoffs agreeing with Vernon for once. “What the hell do we need planning for? Someone literally gave us all the shit we need to take this guy down.”

“Aren’t you the least bit curious as to how all this stuff ended up in Coups’ office? At all?” Woozi asks, stressing as he continues to transfer the files to the desktop.

There are only a few of them in the conference room. Along with the four, Joshua, and Mingyu are standing by trying to work this out.

The possibility of a mole is getting greater and greater by the minute. The searched through the security feed and nothing pops up no matter which camera and how far back they look, the camera is completely clean. That fact boils Woozi’s blood. Someone had the audacity to mess with his wiring and his security system; someone smart.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Seungcheol tries to reason with his boyfriend but the words were lost in his ears. “Who would want to help us catch this guy?”

“Maybe he has an accomplice and he turned on him,” Mingyu suggests.

“it’s possible then that means that there are two moles and that’s no good.”

“Or it could be Phantasia or ACD doing this; helping us,” Jeonghan defends rummaging through the box for more information when a small photo slips out onto the ground. The blond reaches down to pick it up but freezes almost automatically when he finally sees the face on the image; genuine shock running throughout his body, “Oh my god.”

Attention is all on his at this point: everyone silently waits for an explanation of what Jeonghan seemingly discovered. Seungcheol’s ye first to ask if he’s alright, but he’s only brushed off with Jeonghan’s signature “everything is alright” look as he shoves the picture in his pocket. “It says here this Sungyoon guy is planning on being at this old factory, we meet him there and kill him. Simple as pie.”

Seungcheol scrunches his brows at the words coming out of Jeonghan’s mouth. He’s always known how headstrong the blond his but being this vocal is concerning. “That’s not true. I don’t know anything about pi so it can’t be that simple,” He walks around the table getting closer to the other so he can have a brief conversation just between the two. “Jeonghan this case is too close to home, I think you should relax a bit.”

“How can you say that?” he whispers back while the others run through more possibilities and outcomes, “You know how much this means to me. Finally getting them back for everything they’ve taken from me, everything he’s taken from me! I want this to end.”

“Jeonghan. We don’t know what we’re up against.”

“But I do.”

“What does that mean?”

“Just trust me okay?”

“Don’t make this harder than this has to be.”

 

 

*** 

 

 

The very next day Nana gives them the okay with much persuasion from The Angel and Madman themselves. It’s better to go with whatever lead they have – with caution – then to let it slip. Seungcheol still has his doubts about taking a shot in the dark is a little out of his comfort – this coming from someone who had to literally shoot his target in pitch black darkness once, successfully killing him.

“Game plan?” Mingyu raises an eyebrow as he straps holsters on his leg.

They all trust their coworkers for the most part, but the only people who have been cleared as being mole-free have been the six of them. And in light of the spontaneous information drop, there’s just no way in telling who could be connected with this all.

“The plan is to hop in there, before or after he kills whoever he’s killing and kill him,” Woozi scoffs as if Mingyu is some sort of idiot.

Rolling out the blueprints of the factory that was inside Seungcheol’s little present. Joshua opts to ignore the shorter’s snarky comment, they begin to strategize the best way to make this successful. He points out how the boiler room had been highlighted for them, a strong indicator that that’s where whatever was going was going to happen in there.

There are protests, mostly coming from Seungcheol and Mingyu. Everything just seems too convenient and a high probability of it being a trap, most likely with how laid out everything is.

“Trust me when I say this, if there’s going to be a trap, I can get us out of it,” Jeonghan says with determination and certainty.

“You’ve been cryptic since yesterday, what are you not telling us?” his own boyfriend interrogates him.

“I know him. I’ve interacted with him before. I know how he works.” He tries to convince them all but they barely did. “Just trust me on this one okay? You all will be fine.” Jeonghan says flatly with one last stroke to sharpen his knife.

 

 

They continue as planned. Mingyu and Seungcheol went into the factory through the back while Jeonghan reunited with his former partner entering the front. Vernon up and disappeared the minute Mingyu parked the hummer a block away.

The two took out the men guarding the entrance with ease – and in silence – along with the others roaming the hall. It wasn’t until they were about to turn the corner did Jeonghan grab hold of Joshua’s arm, stopping them both in their tracks.

“Hey. Promise me whatever happens in there, if there’s a chance to get out of there you guys will,” Jeonghan sounds pleading. Joshua’s eyes are wide since he’s never heard this kind of tone from his best friend before. “Joshua Hong. Promise me.”

“I promise that we _all_ are getting out of here alive,” he emphasizes. He doesn’t know why Jeonghan was telling his all this, of course they have to get out live and they will. It’s a mission much like all the others they’ve been on. What makes this so different?

The Gentleman wants to press on further but has to bite his tongue when he sees S.Coups wave them over to the entrance of the room. It’s a rather large metal door, no knob, a sliding door that is cracked open just a bit. The eldest is about to count down to barge in when the four of them hear “I won’t hesitate bitch!” followed by three different screams and the sounds of an automatic rifle.

Joshua’s jaw slacks as he closes his eyes and just sighs while Mingyu relaxes his position, almost dropping his machete and gun scoffing, “I’m mad that I’m even surprised.”

“Where the fuck did he hide an AR?” Seungcheol hisses at the Madman’s boyfriend.

Dropping his shoulders, eyes still closed, all Joshua could do is shrug. “I just don’t question it anymore.”

It’s quite obvious that Vernon had enough of tiptoeing around.

 _“Are you all in place?”_ Woozi’s voice rings in all their ears. They all respond – minus Vernon – with a simple yes, _“Okay, there are fourteen men in there, the vision is dark and black and white so I don’t have clear visuals on who is who but I can only assume the continuous shooting is from Madman.”_

“On your count,” S.Coups says cocking his gun.

When Snake Eyes gives them their cue, Migyu pushes the door open. They find four men already down while Madman is fighting two more. Another six approach the four intruders. “I don’t have time for this,” The Angel rolls his eyes as he flicks his arm out causing two stilettos to shoot out piercing one man in both his shoulders before pulling our Azrael, flinging it straight into his forehead.

Casually walking up to the lifeless body, he looks around, trying to find the one they’re after. He sees The Gentleman inject one lacky, getting him on their knees execution style before shooting him. On the other side he sees Madman with not one, but too, rifles in his hands, pointing it at two more men trying to get information out of them while Mingyu sticks another with his really large knife (one he never let Jeonghan play with).

But when he can’t seem to find S.Coups he begins to panic. Looking around the room, every corner, behind every pipe, he can’t find him. He feels his throat tighten as it begins to pulsate. Jeonghan tries to wipe the feeling away but the feeling only grew tighter. “SE, any visuals on Coups?”

 _“I… I…”_ He hears the tech analyst typing fast, _“It’s too static-y I can barely see anything in the shadows.”_

So he yells. Bending down to pull his dagger out he yells. “Sungyoon!”

The least expected happens. A bullet lands in his side. Rolling his eyes a bit at the fact that he got shot, again, is extremely frustrating. He sucks in when the adrenaline subsides. “God!” He screams in pain, hunching over, “You fucking bastard! Is that how you greet people now? You just fucking shoot them?” Jeonghan screams over the sounds of people grunting and bullets flying.

“Only the disrespectful ones,” a man comes out from the shadows, a gun in one hand a cane in the other. Someone else is following him.

“Han!” He hears Seungcheol scream.

“I better not have to move a muscle during recovery time,” he shouts back, wincing at his attempt of lightening the mood.

“Han?” He can see the man raise an eyebrow in surprise, “Jeonghan?”

“Ah. So you remember me huh old man,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “Thought you were dead for the longest time.”

“Who would have thought you ended up on the other side of the law.” His voice is condescending as he watches Jeonghan fall to his knees.

Coughing up some blood, he groans but still tries to play it off – his blood is gonna be really hard to wash out of that shirt. Looking up, he sees Seungcheol with his arms twisted behind him and a knife to his neck. Never had Jeonghan imagine that he’d ever see that again.

He gasps a little for air, laughing a bit cynically, “And who would have thought my dad’s own brother was gonna kill him.”

Striking a cord, the old man tosses the gun aside. Jeonghan watches as the weapon slides across the concrete all the way across the room next to the door. The elderly man folds his hand over the other on top of the cane. “Looks like time does that to us.”

Everything seems to stop. The noise. Firing weapons. Everything stops. Through the space between pipes and grates to see his friends staring at him. This was the information he held. This was how he’s encountered with Sungyoon before.

“How’d you find me?”

Jeonghan’s voice is hoarse yet still laced with amusement, “Followed the yellow brick road.”

He really wished he was wrong. Truly. When he saw that picture, he prayed to the God that he was just seeing things. That it wasn’t the same exact picture as the one he saw in his mom’s old photo albums.

Jeonghan was told his uncle died in a car accident when he was four, a while before his own father died. He could only remember bits and pieces of the time he spent with his uncle. He recalls playing at the park with him and his mom as well as eating at a fast food restaurant that seemed God-sent at the time since he was a child. Jeonghan was left with good memories of him.

But ever since his father’s death and the logs he kept, things didn’t add up. Like dates. Time-frames. His father was always cryptic in his notes. There would be a name that always stuck out to him. YooJung. That’s the name of his supposed dead uncle. Jeonghan assumed there was just another Yoojung out there since he’s met countless people with the same name as his friends. But the way his father had written about him was as if they were brothers, but that wasn’t possible so he just assumed that his dad was a mess and constantly jumped around the notebooks and wrote the wrong years.

 _‘Sungyoon my ass. That’s a stupid alias,’_ Jeonghan judges internally.

“So,” his uncle straightened up, “I see my alliances have turned on me.”

“You have nobody left on your side. All your men are out.” Doctor Thunder’s voice rang through the room as they slowly closed in on them. Except they all froze when the sound of moving machines is heard. Joshua takes a chance and looks in the corner of the room where two automatic rifles were directed at them, specifically, him and Mingyu.

For the umpteenth time that night, he closes his eyes. For one thing, he found out where Madman got the ARs, and the other is defeat. Nobody could take the kill. Even Madman couldn’t even find a risk to take; there’s just too much at stake.

They all watch in anticipation when he pulls out another gun from his holster. “How many fucking guns do you have damn it!” Jeonghan groans, hunching over in pain. He can hear Mingyu asking Woozi if there was any way for him to de-armor the room. _“I… I’m trying… There’s just… Someone’s blocking me from accessing it…”_

“just because they’re gone doesn’t mean I don’t want to live; even though I know I will.”

“How can you fucking shoot your own nephew!” The blond topples over – yet still has the energy to whine. “You’re a shitty uncle who should’ve stayed dead.”

Shockingly, Yoojung sighs, “If I knew who you were before… I wouldn’t have. Beat you with a cane, but not shoot you. I promised your father before I killed him.”

The last statement sends a shockwave of energy through him, enough to balance himself once more on his knees, “Why’d you do it?”

“For him freedom. And mine.” He says through gritted teeth. “You’re dying boy. You should get out of here.” His uncle tisks, “I just came here to finish what I started,” he motions to a lifeless body in the corner then to the walls of the room.

“Where’s the fun in that?” The Angel presses on, body growing weak. “When I want you dead.”

The man wags his fingers, “Listen here boy, I can let you all walk out of here, keep me alive. While this building,” he motions to the wires with his cane and decorated along the inside walls leading straight to a detonator that’s already counting down. “Will disappear. You and your little friends can live to see another day. I’ll let you guys leave, you have five minutes, to get out and let me walk. And you can save Jeonghan while you’re at it.”

“Deal. Please. Just let us go so we can save him.” Seungcheol chokes out immediately.

With the gun still pointed at his own nephew, he nods his head to release Seungcheol. Not before flipping the top of his cane open to show them where the detonation button was.

Releasing Seungcheol from his hold, Yoojung’s right-hand man pulls a gun out and pointing it at him as he grabs a hold of Jeonghan.

“You know… If you spent this much money on explosives and shooty things…” Jeonghan swallows hard, trying to suppress a wince as his boyfriend helps him up, “You should have… at least… orphans… give to them.”

“What?”

“He says you could have at least used your money for good instead of you know… weapons,” Seungcheol translates, motioning for the other three to head out first.

The three stepped out carefully, eyeing the fancy guns that continue to follow them on their way to the door. After them is the lacky then Seungcheol helping Jeonghan out with Yoojung last, thumb still hovering over the button.

“I’m so sorry.”

Once they reached the doorframe, Jeonghan musters up all of the energy he saved and shoves himself off of his boyfriend, grabbing the lighter out of his pocket and pushes all of them out of the room successfully slamming the door, locking him and his uncle inside.

Instantly, Joshua spins around at lightning speed, stabbing the stray man with a syringe before swiftly taking the gun out of his hand before shooting him. One problem down. A bigger one to deal with.

“Jeonghan!” Seungcheol screams. He starts banging his fist on the steel door, trying hard to pull it open. What the hell is he thinking?

“GO!” They heard his muffled voice. Joshua bangs as well as he searches for another way in to try to open the door, but it was no use.

“Jeonghan come on! What do you think you’re doing?”

The Angel, leans against the door, struggling to keep himself up. He looks his uncle in the eye, his face filled with amusement. He hated him more than ever. “There’s no way I’m letting him out of here alive.” Jeonghan charges towards him knocking his uncle’s gun out of his hands as it tumbles into one of the open grates on the floor. Thinking he has the upper hand, the end of the cane comes in contact with his face causing him to tumble over.

“Han you don’t have to do this, please!” Mingyu begs.

 “Get out of here!” His hands begin to shake as he fumbles with the lighter. He can feel himself growing weaker and weaker.

“Brave child, now aren’t you?” The condescending voice chuckles behind him, thumb pushing down on the red button. And just like that, the wind is knocked out of him once more as a timer starts on the device on the wall. Ten minutes.

“I’m my father’s son, not yours,” he retorts. “LEAVE OR ELSE YOU ALL WILL DIE TOO!”

Seungcheol’s blood ran cold. He feels his heart stop beating, hands frozen against the door. His eyes are wide, mimicking Joshua’s shock. “Han no please!”

“Don’t make me say it again!” Jeonghan nearly sobs out of pain and grief. He can barely feel his left leg at this point. But he has to do this. He can’t just let this man live on. “GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

With tears staining his cheeks, Mingyu tries to pull Seungcheol away. “Coups we have to go.”

“No! Yoon Jeonghan open this God damn door!” Seungcheol bangs on the door as hard as he can, trying his best to get through to his partner.

The blond presses a hand closer to his wound to stop the bleeding, back leaned against the door, a semi-triumphant smile on his face. “Just you and me now asshole.”

The man steps over one of the dead bodies and almost chuckles, “So it seems.”

The continuous banging goes deaf to their ears as the two continue to stare at each other; as if one looks away it’s a sign of defeat.

Jeonghan chucks the lit lighter at the closest open tank near his uncle that was leaking creating a small explosion, enough to blow Yoojung back for more distance. “Let’s end this.”

 

Both Joshua and Seungcheol stay in their spots. Time seems to be standing still. It’s not until a small explosion snaps them back to earth. The eldest continues to bang at the door, screaming at nothing at this point for some being to open the door. “Cheol we have to go!”

“ _We are not_ leaving him! We can’t leave him!” he yells at them tears already streaming down his face.

“We have to!” Vernon screams back, grasping at his arms as he continues to fight them. He didn’t want to leave. There was no way in hell he’d willingly leave Jeonghan. But there’s nothing he can do.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! No, we don’t!”

He was ready to argue some more when suddenly, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, body going limp. As soon as Mingyu catches him, he sees The Gentleman, as white as a sheet. He drops the syringe in his hand and stares blankly at nothing. “We… We have… we have to go.”

Vernon gives a worried look to his partner, unsure of what to say or do next, but nothing comes out. Joshua’s voice came almost monotone as if he was possessed to say that.

Not wasting another minute, Mingyu carries Seungcheol while Vernon drags Joshua out of the building. They’re all running. Running from a timer that could go off any second. Except for Joshua, it was like running on a treadmill. No matter how fast he felt like was running, he felt like he was stuck in the same place, not getting anywhere.

Vernon pushes them out the exit looking back briefly in the direction he knows Jeonghan’s in. He tries so hard to ignore the beating of his heart because he’s never been this scared. Adrenaline be damned, excitement is nonexistence, this fear he’s dreading is something he wishes he never has to experience again as he turns away from the building and runs towards the others.

Once they reached their car, a noise so deafening reaches their ears. Mingyu didn’t have to turn around to see… He saw through the refection of his car. The entire factory going up in flames.

Joshua spins around, face written with pure horror. “NO!” The Gentleman begins to run back towards to burning building. “JEONGHAN! JEONGHAN!”  
Vernon runs after him, wrapping his arms around Joshua’s body, trying to drag him back to the car. “Josh, we have to go-”

“WHAT THE HELL DID WE JUST DO? WHY THE HELL DID WE DO THAT!” he shrieks, face turning red due to the lack of oxygen he was getting. “WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING!”

Vernon continues to struggle to keep Joshua at bay, while Mingyu allows his tears to fall freely down his face, leaning his head against the car. He stares at Seungcheol’s lifeless body inside the car. He wishes that maybe, just maybe Seungcheol won’t wake up to this nightmare.

Like a lot of major things that happen in one’s life, things often happen in slow motion. Especially with something this traumatic. Vernon does his best as he lugs Joshua’s struggling body to the car. Their faces are illuminated by the distant fire from the factory. The could see, but only in orange, yellow and black.

He grows tired of fighting with him. Not that Vernon had any problem with energy. It’s just that emotionally, he’s gone.

Not knowing what else to do; he watches. He watches as Joshua crumples to the ground and continues to stare at the massive fire.. He watches as Mingyu climbs into the driver’s seat and smacks the steering wheel repeatedly. He notices how Seungcheol’s breathing is calm and serene, completely unaware of what’s going on. It’s a complete juxtaposition to Joshua’s. His breaths are uneven, some deep, some quick, some look like hiccups. So, he just watches. Paying no mind to how wet his cheeks have become, he watches as The Gentleman’s shoulder’s heaved up and down at an uneven pace.

Their Angel is gone.

 

Jeonghan’s gone.

 

 

 


	14. Reborn

“Seungkwan! Over here!” An officer calls him over.

He is The Ghost. The Ghost who is a master at blending and fitting in with his environment. He is the best at hiding his emotions. He’s seen executions, tortured bad people who had it coming. But nothing has prepared him to see a charred body while sifting through the rubble. Especially when he knew exactly who was here not even twelve hours ago.

When the Gentleman, Madman, Doctor Thunder, and S.Coups returned from their mission, it had been extremely unnerving.

Mingyu had walked in with Seungcheol on his back unconscious; he slowly dragged his feet towards the conference room, being the closest room to drop the eldest off his back. Locked up. Nobody dare spoke when Vernon dropped to his knees and began to sob. Not even him, Seungkwan, his former partner, could muster up the courage to ask why Seungcheol was unconscious, or why Mingyu couldn’t let go of the doorknob or why Joshua stood there in front of the elevator, absolutely void of emotion. The meek sound of the clock ticking was the only thing all of them could hear. Not until Woozi reemerged from his office, his eyes bouncing to everyone in the office, going off about how the feed cut and his mic got blocked. He had to make himself stop talking once he read the room.

“Where’s Jeonghan?”

A question. Containing two words. It was supposed to be just a simple question. But how it ruined everyone’s entire world.

Joshua seemed to have lost control of his own body as he stumbled towards the nearest wall, gliding down and letting the tears that he’d held in for God knows how long.

“I should have turned around,” Mingyu whispered but it sounded loud enough to be a yell. “He… Coups told me we should have stayed. But if we did…”

“We’d be dead too,” Joshua’s monotone voice rang between his hiccups. Seungkwan’s eyes land back on Vernon who was being led towards their clinic area. Everyone was looking at the Gentleman with expecting eyes. He saw it, they all knew what happened just from their entrance. Nobody wanted to say it. And they all thought the same exact thing. Maybe if it wasn’t said, then it won’t be true.

“Jeonghan told us to leave. It was the only option. We… I… it happened so fast…”

That was the first time Seungkwan had ever experienced heartbreak. He remembered the look on Seungcheol’s face when he regained consciousness hours later.

The latter was screaming and banging on the conference window, yelling at them to let him out, telling them all to go back and save Jeonghan. Nana had ordered Kyla to watch over Joshua and Vernon when she recommended them to take time off for as long as possible. Seungcheol was hell-bent to get Jeonghan back. When Ailee had finally stepped inside the conference room, the onlookers watched as both broke down crying, while Ailee did her best to comfort the heartbroken man. The scene was heart-wrenching.

He remembered as he watched Kyulkyung scurry into the bathroom while he heard soft sobs coming from Chan’s office. So many things were happening at once, so many different reactions from all sides of the room while everyone shared the same emotions. Grief. Sadness. Confusion. Denial.

Seungkwan was too stunned to cry. 

But it wasn’t until now. When he was ordered to take pictures of the crime scene. It isn’t until he took a snapshot of a burnt corpse and took notice of a slightly charred ring on the right hand. It wasn’t until then, did the weight of Jeonghan’s death come crashing down on him. 

“Seungkwan? Hey? Are you okay?” The officer gave a look of concern. 

What kind of question was that? Was he okay? No. No, he wasn’t.

He shoves the camera in the officer’s hand before running out of the factory. Seungkwan shoves passed all the officers and investigators on the scene trying to get some sort of breath of fresh air. Everything felt so suffocating.

Once he sees the green grass, he hunches over and throws up all the content he had for dinner the other night. He wasn’t able to eat anything this morning since he had tried to get a hold of Vernon to no avail.

Hot tears streamed down his face as he tried to catch his breath, only to come to the gut-wrenching realization: The impossible had happened. 

Yoon Jeonghan is truly gone. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

“Come in,” 

The Ghost enters the room quietly, hands behind his back, his gaze low. “I was on the scene today…”

From the corner of his eye, he could see Nana had stopped writing. Their boss had years of training to compartmentalize her feelings, but this one just hit too close to home. 

“How bad was it?”

“The entire warehouse was burned… there were thirteen bodies found, all with gunshot wounds. The department doesn’t know if they died before or in the fire.”

“Thirteen?” Her head shot up, “There were thirteen men including Joonyoung! That means there’s one body not accounted for! That means-”

“Nana…” Seungkwan regretfully interrupts. Her face dims when she looks at him. Bringing his hand forward, he places an evidence bag on top of her desk.

He watches as she picks up the bag with shaky hands. Opening it, she pulls out the now clean ring. Twiddling it between her fingers, she flips it around to look at the inside of it, only to find ‘Jeonghan’ engraved. The bottom lip began to quiver as she stroked the letters. 

“I-” his voice cracks, “I found it on one of the bodies… the amount of DNA we got on the scene matches with… The Angel.” He couldn’t bring himself to his name. Saying his name made it all too real. And there was just no way he could make it any truer.

“S.Coups isn’t going to handle this well,” Nana is able to muster out. “I’d like to be alone… Can you please go check on Snake Eyes?”

This was the first causality that’s occurred under Nana’s reign. And was it a huge one.

 

 

*** 

 

 

Seungkwan cracks the door open to Woozi’s “lair.” He wasn’t expecting to find him in complete darkness. The smaller of the two is seated on the couch, with it facing the wall. He has a projector connected to his computer, as it blew up pictures onto the makeshift screen.

Quietly, he takes a seat next to Woozi, not ignoring the swollen eyes and clutter of tissues in the overflowed trashcan.

“Penny for your thoughts.” 

It’s silent as the latter sighs, “I was watching the surveillance for two hours after Josh and Vernon were sent home. It was weird knowing that right before the cameras blacked out, that was the last glimpse we’d see of him.”

This was eating Woozi alive. Nothing made sense to him. There’s just no way Jeonghan could be gone. Was it his fault? Could he have prevented it if he accessed the software faster? If he had higher tech would he have been able to break through all the encryptions and firewalls? If he had all that, would he have been able to save Jeonghan?

Shifting on the couch, Seungkwan whispers, “What are you watching now?”

A small smile forms on his lips as Woozi presses the play button. Immediately, Seungkwan felt his eyes well up when he sees Jeonghan’s smiling face.

_“Alright motherfuckers, guess who just got bumped down to number five?” His voice was teasing as he twirled the marker between his fingers._

Both laughed when they heard the mischief and when they saw it in his eyes as he looked to the right. The camera panned over to Seungcheol who had his tongue pressed against his cheek. Seungkwan saw himself teasing the older while the others were playing dumb.

_“Whoever could it be Jeonghan?” Joshua scratched his head. “Please do tell!”_

_“It’s Choi S.Coups!” Jeonghan laughed as he erased the rankings and rewrote them with Madman and The8 still on top._

_“Oh shut up, We all know that I took that spot before and I can sure as hell take it again,”_

_The room was filled with catcalls and oohs coming from mostly Mingyu and Seokmin. “Couple’s counseling time!”_

The two laughed at the fond memory. 

“He’s supposed to be invincible…” Seungkwan mutters.

“He said it so much I was starting to believe it..." Woozi throws his head back, trying to stop another stream of tears that were bound to come out, "The last thing I said to him was that he shouldn't keep bleaching his hair, it's killing his brain cells."

"Hey, if it makes you feel better I told him even though he's an angel he's gonna burn in hell," Seungkwan scoffs. 

The comment made Woozi crack a smile. They sat in silence together, going through the photos they had with Jeonghan and the random videos that were taken during the workday.

“It’s funny isn’t?” 

“What?”

“We kill for a living and we even keep count of how many. But once one of us go, it’s the end of the world,” He shakes his head, “How hypocritical.”

“Human nature,” a voice laughs sadly behind them. “Nana sent me in here because she was scared Woozi locked you up in here with him.”

“Stayed on my own free will,” Seungkwan moves aside so Hoshi could sit In between them.

“It’s our job. We don’t feel bad because we know what all those people have done. It might not seem ethical, but in the end, they were gonna die.” Hoshi stares at the paused video of Jeonghan laying on Minghao, “Let’s be real, Jeonghan was the most human out of all of us.”

The more Seungkwan thinks about it, the truer the statement became. Jeonghan really was the one who stayed real. He was the only one afraid of being hurt. He was the only one who always asked for a break. He’s the one who always made sure they spoke about how they felt and if they didn’t want to see their hired therapist he was there to listen.

“I think this is just the side effect of being a family with co-workers. We ignored to keep a professional relationship, that’s how people work,” Seungkwan smiles, “Do the people we’re assigned to kill deserve it? It’s debatable. But from stopping them, we’re saving so many other people from going through what some of us went through and what we’re going through now.”

“We’re the grey area.” Woozi nods, pressing play.

 

 

***

 

 

It takes two weeks for Vernon to come back to work. In reality, he hasn’t spoken to anyone since that night. Granted, Joshua refused to talk to anyone while he couldn’t muster up the courage to talk to Seungcheol or Mingyu. Their feelings for Jeonghan made it all the harder.

What he expected to see was Seungcheol at his desk, Mingyu talking to Wonwoo and Joshua getting coffee. He was hoping he’d get to witness Woozi and Soonyoung arguing about pointless facts and Nana scolding Seokmin and Chan for doing something ridiculous. Maybe even see Jun and Minghao playing keep-away with some of Kyulkyung’s stuff.

But what he comes back to is a ghost town. Kyulkyung, Eunwoo, and Rena are the only ones at their desks, the rest are nowhere to be found. Even at their desks, they weren’t doing anything. One was staring blanking at their computer screen while the other two had their head down. It’s just like how he left it. Silent.

Walking toward the individual offices he peaks inside one by one. S.Coups office is dark and locked, dust accumulating on the doorknob, obvious indication it hasn’t been touched in a while. Joshua’s office mirrors Seungcheol’s. Vernon turns to go towards Mingyu’s when Wonwoo walks out with a couple of files. Both are surprised to see each other.

“I just… picking things up for ‘Gyu,” The older of the two lifts the papers in his hand.

“He’s not here?” Vernon blinks at his stupid statement. Of course he wasn’t here. “I mean, never mind. I don’t expect him to be here.”

“Vernon… I think it’s too soon for you to back,” Wonwoo tries to reason, “Truthfully, I’m only here to grab this,” he shows a folder of printed pictures of them all at different moments and different times. He watches as Wonwoo’s eyes grew a bit redder, “It took me three days to finally come and get them.”

“I need this.”

Understanding where he was coming from, Wonwoo nods bidding him farewell.

Madman is informed that half of the company has taken a leave including a majority of his friends. He’s pleasantly surprised when he sees light coming from The Angel’s office.

Cracking it open, he sees Minghao laying on his back on the ground, arm in the air moving slowly in a circular motion. “Have you ever wondered… why Jeonghan would just lay on his floor sometimes?” He remains silent as he approaches him, sitting next to him on the ground to lean back and look up. “Always thought he was insane when he had a couch right there. But it isn’t until now, do I realize why he was right here on this spot,” The Chinese man closes his eyes for a second before reopening them, “On this spot, you can feel the blowing of them vent. Not too strong, just enough to where you’re cooled down but not weak to the point that he’s sweating. Here, if he’s just looking up at the ceiling, he can’t see anything in his peripheral. No couch. No desk. No door. Nothing. But the slightest turn of the head,” Minghao turns to face to the doorway, specifically, the wall where the puncture marks of Azrael remain, “You see art.”

Not seeing what he sees, Vernon lays down next to his friend and turns his head as well. Looking past Minghao’s hair he sees it. What always looked like a jumble of holes in the wall turn into a side view of angel wings attached to a back once there’s a change in perspective. It’s a large abstract piece that takes over the entire wall from top to bottom.

“You think that’s him?”

The light reflects off of a tear that rolls down Mnighao’s cheek, “I know it is.”

 

 

***

 

 

Slowly, one by one, the hunters return to headquarters. Slowly but surely, accepting the truth of the matter.

It takes another week for Mingyu to return and another month for Joshua to make some sort of appearance. He doesn’t work. In fact, he doesn’t even stay at his apartment. There were just too many memories between him and Jeonghan in there. The night after the incident he packed everything up and quite literally fled the country, spending time incognito with his retired mother. He spoke scarcely, only responding with head nods and eyebrow raises.

Seungcheol is still nowhere to be seen.

When Woozi returned to work that was the second thing he did after dusting off his computers; he tried to track him. But he has gone completely off the radar. He even went as far as breaking into his flat – even though he promised never to do that again – with Soonyoung only to find overflowed trashcans, dirty laundry everywhere and a messed-up bed. Seungcheol just didn’t want to be found.

 

 

 

“What do you want to do?”

Mingyu looks down then towards Woozi. Biting his lip, the tech analyst turns to Vernon who shifts his own gaze to Joshua who continues to stare blankly at nothing.

Two months into the aftermath of Jeonghan’s death and Nana can’t wait for Seungcheol to appear. She’s just going to assume he’s made a decision or needs more time.

There’s no denying the shockwaves Jeonghan has sent. It’s just that, the people standing him her office was there. They witnessed everything and had to go through that. With something, so traumatic Nana has to make sure they all are prepared and fit for going back to the field. That they still wanted to be a hunter.

“When…” Mingyu clears his throat, “When Seungcheol returns… I’ll be ready again.”

Eyes shift to Woozi, “I’ve been back. Throwing myself into work. I can’t do anything or else I can’t.”

“Give me any case,” Joshua’s voice comes out dry, almost unfamiliar to their ears. Not a single wrinkle of emotion shows on his face, “I’ll get them done. Other than that. Please. Nobody ask for me.”

They all stare dumbfounded as the one called The Gentleman briskly walks out of the office, no warning, no goodbye.

“Desk me.”

An even bigger shock falls upon them as they stare at Vernon with utter disbelief.

Madman. Their Madman. Is asking to be desked.

“Vernon-”

“I can’t do it,” he shakes his head, “I don’t know how any of you can do it. I physically _can’t_ do it. I don’t want to be anywhere near the field. I don’t want to be near a gun, grenade, an… an… an explosive ever. I… we _lost_ him!” His voice wavers and cracks with every other syllable, “I… I was raised in a fucking gang for god sakes. I’ve killed more people than I can even count! So I don’t understand how you all can keep moving on when we didn’t do _jack shit_! To save Yoon Jeonghan!”

“That’s not true.” A reassuring voice washes into the office, hairs on the back of their necks raising. It’s so calm and serene. They didn’t know how much they missed hearing it until now to the point to where it could bring tears. “You did what you had to do… We all did.”

“Cheol…”

“Jun’s outside looking for you SE,” He jabs his thumb over his shoulder, “He needs you to look into some bank records.” Woozi nods unknowingly, refusing to look away from the man who went AWOL. Seungcheol carefully strolls passed him and takes the place he stood.

“Are you sure you’re ready to come back?” Nana asks hesitantly.

“He’s alive,” Seungcheol says with so much conviction and determination, “There’s no way he’s dead.”

“Seungcheol, he’s gone…”

“Jeonghan doesn’t go anywhere without Azrael,” he shakes trying hard not to scream. Taking a deep breath, he pauses before continuing. “I went back to the factory. No sign of the knife. I went to Seungkwan, begged him to check through evidence to see if it was picked up but there was nothing. I needed it. Because…” he starts choking up, “Because he doesn’t go anywhere without it I wanted to put it somewhere I knew he’d always be.” Seungcheol tries to ignore the tears rolling down his cheeks, “I wanted burry it by his father’s grave. But it didn’t turn up. It has to be with him!”

“Seungcheol!” Nana forces herself to scream no matter how much it pained her. Shakily leaning over her desk, she reaches out for his hand. Opening his palm, she silently places Jeonghan’s ring in his hand. “I’m sorry… he’s gone.”

 

 

***

 

 

It takes one more week for Seungcheol to reappear. He’s overly hesitant as he stands in front of his parked car in the garage, recounting everything that’s happened.

Staring at the brick wall by the access elevator his mind drifts.

_Jeonghan sees the black beamer pull into the lot. He straightens up, pressing the elevator button. Entering he waits for Seungcheol to catch up. When they finally see each other, they realize just how much of a mess they were.  
_

_S.Coups’ eyes were exhausted, dark circles underneath with his hair all messed up. Jeonghan looked no better.  
_

_They both move at the same time, Jeonghan pulling him close by the hem of his shirt while Seungcheol grabbed his wrist, lips meeting halfway. The kiss shared unspoken words. Unsaid apologies and gratefulness that they were both alive.  
_

_Seungcheol pulled away before it could get any deeper. Jeonghan held in a whine from the loss of contact.  
_

_“I’m sorry.”  
_

_“Seungcheol don’t apologize.”  
_

_“I’m so sorry,” he huffed, “I know you said we were going to keep a civil and have it a one and done thing but… I’m just… happy you're safe. That’ll be the last time I do that. Sorry.”_

As the lift takes him to the entrance he drags himself towards his untouched office. Pulling out his keys he brushes off the dust the hem of his shirt.

The lights flicker on as he stares at the lifeless room.

_Jeonghan walked down the corridor towards his office the morning after when an arm reached out, yanking him inside an office. Ripping his headphones out he rolled up the files in his hands and began whacking Seungcheol with it.  
_

_"What the hell is wrong with you?"  
_

_"God, just stop," the older grabbed his wrists to halt the abuse, "Can you really not spend more than a second with me without assaulting me?"  
_

_When the younger stopped struggling it was only then, did he realize how close they were. Seungcheol couldn't help but feel his heart beat a bit faster with his face a couple of centimeters away from The Angel's face. It didn't help when he scrunched his nose in disgust that made him a bit more attractive._  
  
"Well... I know I can’t bring them back, but could you at least try to forgive me? I wasn’t trying to get in your way, I was just doing my job. And I really don’t want you to hate me because of it.”

_Jeonghan looks up at his comment; the older is smiling at him. "Stop it."  
_

_"What?"  
_

_"Smiling; you have extremely noticeable dimples."  
_

_Raising his eyebrow, he watched as Jeonghan turn to leave his office. "Is that a bad thing?"  
_

_"Yes, you look stupid."_

The feeling is rough under his skin as he slides his hand across the wall. This room holds so many of their memories.

Dropping his bag on his couch he fingers through some of the folders on his desk, checking which ones he had gotten back since his leave.

He can almost feel his heart shattering when he sees the “Battista” file.

_As he kicks a man on the ground, he watches as Jeonghan reemerges with a fist full of Battista’s shirt, dragging him across the floor. The man already bruised and bleeding. The Angel, lifted the man, successfully throwing him across the room before whipping out his gun, "I want the ultimatum," he grunted as he shot two bullets, getting two men right in the forehead._

_At this point, Jeonghan didn’t care. He knew he was never going to be able to say it at any other point in time, so might as well do it when he has a good part of the man’s attention.  
_

_S.Coups twists the guard’s wrist behind his back before kicking him out the window. "What?" He turns and watches the Angel do a jumping round kick off the wall while simultaneously drawing out his blade, and with a flick of the wrist, it flew straight into the man's chest. He stared in awe; he couldn't understand how there wasn't even a speck of dust on the white denim of his jacket and jeans.  
_

_The blond looked around to make sure everyone was taken care of before speaking again, "I said I want the ultimatum."  
_

_"I don't-" S.Coups yanked the Angel behind him before firing three shots into a stubborn goon. "Understand. What are you talking about?"  
_

_The two walked towards the exit, the younger nonchalantly taking his blade back and cleaning it with the dead man's shirt before sliding it back in its scabbard. "The morning after we slept together you said nobody picks the ultimatum. But I did. I wanted the ultimatum. I still do."  
_

_Seungcheol was not expecting this of all times. He waits for Jeonghan as he zip ties Battista’s arms and legs, and flips him so his face is towards the floor – back revealing a carved set of wings on his back.  
_

_The Angel straightens up and faces his partner once again, emotion spilling from his eyes. But the sound of sirens grabs them back to reality. “Every god damn time!” Jeonghan basically screams. He runs towards the door, grabbing Seungcheol’s hand in the process leading them out of the building, straight for his car. “I Just want five fucking minutes of your time, but no! Something has to ruin it! Five minutes that’s all I ask!”  
_

_They see the car, hidden in an alleyway, on the opposite side of where the police were coming from. Jeonghan was about ready to throw in the towel and just sleep in the car, but plans change. Like once Seungcheol stands his ground and pulls at their joined hands causing Jeonghan to stumble backward at the force. The older uses this to his advantage and immediately connects their lips together._  
It’s like clockwork for Jeonghan, he doesn’t even hesitate to grab a fist full of the front of his shirt and pull him closer.

_Breaking the kiss, Seungcheol swears he looked so love struck at the moment. If anyone was watching, it would have been evident when Jeonghan had leaned in a bit more, trailing after Seungcheol.  
_

_“I want the ultimatum,” Jeonghan whispered once more, “If the offer still stands and I didn’t fuck it up.”_

“Cheol?” The said man snaps out of his own thoughts to see Kyulkyung standing at his doorway. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.”

“Nana’s called a meeting for the thirt- I mean…I mean… the twelve of you. It’s important.”

Seungcheol thanks her as he follows her out. It’s like he’s in this constant trance he can’t seem to snap out of. Everything is still so surreal. He wants to believe he woke up with Jeonghan next to him like he usually does. It doesn’t sound true if someone were to tell him he did not just have dinner with the blond the other night. In fact, it’s been almost three months since their last dinner. Since he’s last seen Jeonghan.

It’s been three months since Seungcheol’s last breath of fresh air.

He’s just about to step inside the conference room, he sees everyone inside waiting. His eyes land on the two empty seats next to Joshua. One is for him. And the other is for Jeonghan.

At that moment, the elevator doors ding and slide open. Out of déjà vu, Seungcheol turns his head.

_Another man, hidden underneath a face mask and a beanie walks in while wearing a black turtleneck with a blazer over it. As he stepped out of the elevator he removes the mask and the beanie revealing a pale face and short brown hair swept to one side. Seungcheol's full attention was on him.  
_

_"Jeonghan!" Chan waves.  
_

_'Jeonghan huh?'_

He watches as Ren walks out of the metal box, nose buried in a file. Not knowing why he got his hopes up in the first place.

Facing the conference room once more, he could almost chuckle at his favorite memory. Their first memory.

_"Oh hi! You must be new here!"  
_

_Joshua nudges him to stand up. "I'm Seungcheol, it's nice to meet you."_

_"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you," Shaking his hand with a smile.  
_

_"You all are Satan’s spawns," Woozi said to everyone in the room.  
_

_"Did I miss something?" Jeonghan leans over to see everyone trying to control their faces.  
_

_Nana clears her throat, apparently in on it as well, "Han, meet S.Coups, our new bounty hunter."  
_

_Jeonghan took the hand he was still holding and twisted it behind Seungcheol's back, shoving him against the glass window. The desk workers all watch as_

_Jeonghan draws his gun out, pointing it at the back of his head  
_

_Seungcheol felt hesitation from his assailant before using his free hand to push himself off the glass and knocking Jeonghan's back against the table as he yanks out a Swiss Army knife from his sleeve to press it against his throat.  
_

_"What the hell is wrong with you?!"  
_

_He felt arms pry him off of his attacker while he saw Joshua and Chan restrain The Angel; the two seem to be having trouble keeping a hold him.  
_

_"Sit down, all of you," she commands as her eyes scan the entire conference room, "Angel, apologize to S.Coups."  
_

_Silence fell inside the room, all eyes on either Seungcheol or Jeonghan, anticipating what the next words were going to be. "I'm sorry you're a piece of shit.”_

How they managed from clawing at each other’s throats to not wanting to be apart will always boggle his mind. But he’s so thankful for the time he got with him.

“S.Coups?” Nana calls him. Everyone is staring at him as he’s the only one standing. “Are you ready?”

His eyes bounce from one face to another, each with a different type of concern. Without thinking, he walks towards Jeonghan’s old chair and sits down.

“I have to be.”


	15. Fast Pace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello... First I'd like to apologize because I forgot to change how many chapters this had so it was marked as complete and that is totalllly my fault so... so very sorry!  
> There are so many holes in the story?? Ya'll really thought that was it? Lol okay. Anyway, PROCEED! (Sorry for any mistakes)

_“S.Coups?” Nana calls him. Everyone is staring at him as he’s the only one standing. “Are you ready?”_

_His eyes bounce from one face to another, each with a different type of concern. Without thinking, he walks towards Jeonghan’s old chair and sits down, “I have to be.”_

 

“We have a problem,” Nana speaks out first, “Everyone attention on me!” 

The office silenced as everyone stared wide-eyed at their boss. Woozi shifts uncomfortably in his chair, something Seungcheol is quick to pick up on.

“We two major things to discuss,” she massages her temple. “Beforehand I’d like to welcome you all back. It’s been a rough few months and I thank you all for returning.” Her eyes zeroed in on Joshua and Seungcheol specifically.

“Why are we here?”

There’s a pregnant pause in the room, all waiting for an answer. They haven’t been called into a meeting like this since what happened.

Without waiting for another second, Woozi stands from his spot. He still looks as uneasy as before; continuously wringing his hands and looking down on the ground. He has news. And it doesn’t seem like good news.

“I…” he swallows hard causing everyone to lean forward to hear everything, “I got the tapes… the footage… from the day the information was dropped on your desk.” Woozi’s eyes land on Seungcheol nervously. “He’s on the tape and everything. Walking into your office with the box.”

Abruptly standing, almost knocking his chair back, his blood runs cold. “Who.”

“We’re looking into it right now to make sure-”

“Who God damn it!” he slams his hand on the table demanding an answer.

Everybody in the room flinches. There was no sign of the mole since Jeonghan’s death. There’s always hope that could leave the past behind them. But under their circumstances, it’d be hard.

Seungcheol’s eyes pierce into his best friend’s, he tries to pry out the answer from him. Woozi isn’t easy to crack but something about his demeanor today gives him the opening he needs. “Tell me.”

“It’s...”

 

 

“You son of a bitch,” Seungcheol all but runs into Baekho’s office ready to lunge at him, baton already out. Mingyu and Jun grab ahold of both his arms before he could even lay a hand on their senior. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

“What the hell is going on!” Baekho pushes himself away from his desk at the sudden commotion. Almost the entirety of Team Seventeen is in his office.

“This is all your fault you asshole!” The raven-haired man yells, straining himself as he tries to break free. “You told me to protect him? To make sure he doesn’t get hurt? Well, congrats jackass! He’s dead because of you!”

Nana orders them to take them all out of the office to leave her Woozi and Baekho alone.

As the door shuts behind everyone, the puzzled man speaks, “What was that about? That idiot is really blaming me, _me_ , for what happened to Jeonghan? Is he on crack or something?” When Nana doesn’t respond immediately to the statement, his eyes widen significantly, “Boss… You can’t be serious.”

“There is probable cause to believe you’re the one who gave intel on the whereabouts of Yoojung the day Jeong- The Angel died,” her face contorts at her slip of emotions.

“What? That’s absurd!”

“You’re on the tape!” Woozi shouts.

“Well, it’s wrong! Show it to me!”  
“We can’t do that,” Nana deadpans as she waves two fingers for two more men to come it. “We’re going to have to put you in holding until further notice.”

“Where the hell are you taking me?” he screams as he’s being handcuffed by his own partner. “Ren! JR! What are you two doing?!”

“Locking you up for the time being,” Woozi crosses his arms, jaw clenched. “I found all the files on your drive. You in Seungcheol’s office. I have evidence! You got Jeonghan killed!”

“I swear I didn’t what the hell!”

The man’s screams resonate throughout the headquarters as the two drag him off.

The rest of them watch from the conference room. A couple of their hands resting on Seungcheol to prevent him from lurching out of the chair to attack once more.

“I knew that rat had something to do with this,” Vernon grumbles.

The sound of heels sends shockwaves through all the men. Nothing scarier than a pissed off boss in five-inch Louboutins.

Surprisingly, she just shuts the door when Woozi comes back inside – obviously shaken – fixing herself and picking up where she left off.

“The second thing I needed to talk to you all about is that… Phantasia’s and Starship’s bounty hunters are in talks of turning their backs on the alliance.”

“Can this year get any worse?” Seungcheol sighs inwardly. He and the team are still reeling back from the loss of Jeonghan, solved their mole situation not even five minutes ago, and now knowing the alliance was about to be broken.

“They’ve heard about the mole situation, not just within our unit, but as a whole and have ruled Diamond Edge as the most probable source, especially since we’ve obtained S.Coups last year.”

“Well, what are we gonna do?” Woozi scoffs, “We aren’t about to submit to these accusations. We all know Coups is clean, the girls would kill us for even thinking about turning on you and I’m pretty sure Chwe would have bombed the place.”

Jaw dropping a bit at the assumption, Vernon blinks, “Hey! Are we forgetting I was the main suspect last time? I haven’t been in the field for almost four months.”

“Yes, and we’ve definitely ruled you and Joshua out,” Wonwoo says simply.

“Listen to me,” Nana demanded the attention once again, “Yoona, Bora and I have spoken already. None of us like what’s going on. Tonight, we’re sending twelve representatives each. Phantasia’s Hunters will be easy to win their trust, you’ll understand why when you get there, but it’s Starship you have to be worried about.”

“Why? Our relationship with Starship is better than Phantasia’s? They’re usually a lone wolf in this kind of thing?” Soonyoung says a bit flabbergasted. Their interactions with Phantasia have been scarce. Matter of fact, a lot of them were friends of theirs.

“Both Yoona and I could sense there was tension. Bora didn’t look so happy to see me. We wanted to do this as civilly as possible but she requested there be six people to talk and six armed just in case things got out of hand.”

“So,” Chan licks his lips nervously, not liking that there’s a possibility of going to war with opposing bounty hunters. “who’s talking and who’s protecting?”

“The8, Pianoman, Mr. Lightning, 10:10, The Ghost, and The Kid…” She looks at them, watching as their expressions morph, “You six will be the only ones armed tonight. S.Coups, The Gentleman, Madman, Snake Eyes, Doctor Thunder and DK, they’ll be negotiating.”

“What?” Jun stood up in rage, “With all due respect, I get why The8 and The Ghost are going to be armed but the rest of us? Yeah, we’re good shots, but you’re not putting Vernon or Woozi with at least a pistol? The best marksmen? While you have Hoshi _not_ negotiating?”

“I can’t help but agree,” Joshua looked up completely dumbfounded, “I know we’re trying to limit any type of mess up between us, but Woozi’s the best shot literally in Korea… I don’t seem to understand…”

“This is about the night Jeonghan died, isn’t it?” S.Coups scrunches his eyebrows, “That’s the only explanation. We were the ones on that mission while Seokmin and Woozi were monitoring.”

They watched as she swallows hard, “I’m your boss, you do as I say, without question. There is a reason I do things, if you question it, see your wait out.”

 

 

***

 

 

The twelve arrived at the club in Gangnam around two in the morning. It club was still packed with people since their meeting wasn’t scheduled till three. 

“The six of you spread out throughout the club, every corner and wall covered. There will most likely be someone from Phantasia here already. I promise you, what Nana said was true, they aren’t the issue. They’re easy going, and will most likely know that you’re part of Diamond Edge already. We have rings they have tattoos behind their ear.” Woozi informed all of them before they arrived, “Just be your quirky little selves and I promise they’ll trust you, even more, when it comes to the meeting.”

As the six armed members disappear in the crowd, the other six followed the shortest towards the corner of the club. Even in the darkness and smoke, Seungcheol could make out a bright smile heading their way. “Jihoon!”

“Chanyeol!” He smiles back letting the extremely tall man envelop him in a hug. “It’s nice to finally see who little Snake Eyes works with. Come, sit!”

He motions for them to sit in a rather large corner booth with five other people sitting down.

“Sehun, The Siren, Irene, Taeyong, and Yeri,” Chanyeol introduced, “And yours truly, the Phoenix.”

The Siren throws a crumpled up napkin at the tall man, “Hey! I’m off the clock for another forty-five minutes. It’s Taeyeon, not to get confused with TY over there.”

It comes to a pleasant surprise to them all that the way they carried themselves is so… well, pleasant. So carefree.

“So, which one of you is the child gangster?” The man with jet black hair asks. When Vernon raised his hand he waves him over, “My man, Madman! We got a lot in common.”

As they introduce themselves individually, Seungcheol eyed their surroundings, making sure he could still see the rest of the team.

“Hey,” Yeri nudges him, “Don’t worry about your men.”

Something about that simple interaction felt so reassuring.

“Woozi, how do you know Chanyeol?” The Irene asks sipping a glass of gin. 

“It was the funniest thing. I had a kill in this rundown motel and it turned out that there was another hunter the floor above me,” Chanyeol laughs, “Woozi was in the room on the other side of the building, stationed so just in case his guy got in trouble he’d shoot. But he saw my struggle and shot at him and him right in the chest! It was amazing! I was so confused until I saw the window close.”

“He confronted me asking if I was trying to kill him,” Woozi rolls his eyes, “We’ve been in contact since.”

“How is the guy you were working with? The Angel?” Taeyong smiles swishing his drink, “He’s been getting pretty famous where I’ve been hunting.”

Silence swallows the Diamond Edge hunters.

“He died during a mission last month…” Seokmin clears his throat, pushing down the lump he feels.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun says with complete sincerity. There’s something in the way the tall man spoke that feels too real.

“If anything, we know what it’s like they lose family,” Taeyeon smiles sadly giving a quick glance to Sehun then over to Seungcheol. It was as if he was being read so easily as if everyone at the table could read his every thought without even knowing him. 

“Listen, we know Starship is after the mole and has their fingers pointed at you guys,” Irene captures their attention, “We don’t know why but we do know that they haven’t been fond of Diamond Edge recently.” 

“You have our word,” Taeyong chimes in, “If things escalate, we got you. Conflict is the last thing we want, especially between us three.”

“But we found the mole,” Seungcheol states, confusion spreading across all their faces. “Maybe they don’t know this yet but… it was one person.”

“Guys,” A blond man standing by Hoshi caught their attention.

The club began to slowly empty as three approached. 

 

 

***

 

 

Jun sighs as he surveys his surroundings. The six ended their conversation with the Phantasia crew and began to stand. He has no idea what was about to go down, but his conversation with one of their men named Yixing, it seemed that they were at ease with them.

The Pianoman is left keeping watch by the front door. The door is glass so he has a clear view of the empty streets with the occasional lightning flashes. He rolls his eyes at the thought of it raining as soon as they leave. 

Jun rests his hand on the glass as he watches his reflection intently. His eye bags are noticeable lately from lack of sleep. He watches from the reflection, his colleagues gather the bar. He’s about to join when another flash of lightning shot and for a split second, instead of his reflection, he sees the impossible.

“What the fuck,” He jumps back, drawing his gun, pointing it at the door. 

“Pianoman, talk to us,” The Kid rushed over, his gun drawn too, “What happened.”

“No way, I’m tripping,” he grabbed his head in frustration.   
“Everything okay?” DK and Taeyeon approached him, “Was it Starship?”

“No… I’m sorry I’m just seeing things… I thought I saw…”

“Saw what?”

“The Angel…”

A loud bang is heard causing everyone with no weapon to freeze and those who are armed to draw. Footsteps can be heard coming from behind the bar. They all know the owner left them the bar for the night so anyone else coming in was either Starship or foolish. 

Seungcheol’s heart begins to pound in his chest. He doesn’t understand what was going on. He has been in more intense situations than this one, but for some reason, each foot step he hears, his heart beats faster. There is no reason to be scared, he’s surrounded by some of the best bounty hunters this side of the hemisphere has seen. But he doesn’t want to turn around and look. In fact, nobody is looking besides Phantasia who had their weapons aimed in their direction. As the steps draw closer, a sense of familiarity rush in him. It isn’t until a polished silver knife flies next to him landing on the wall across the room.

 Warmth.

A breath of fresh air after months of none.

That’s when everything slows down for him. He follows the steps of the man, one foot in front of the other. Seungcheol traces up the legs, to the man’s back, unable to breathe. He felt so lost, he could only hear muffled clatters of guns. His eyes laid on the back of the man’s head; freshly cut, and currently, a darker shade of brown than he last remembers. He remembers blond. He was blond.

Then everything goes fast. 

He watches as Seokmin uses his quick reflexes to turn and grab the intruder but his face fell and only managed a loose grip on his wrist, allowing his body to move with the man who continued to walk forward. Seokmin’s hand slide to the man’s hand, trying his best to hold on, until he turned around fully, stepping backward, releasing his hold. Everybody is looking at him. All eyes on him.

Everybody is looking at an Angel.

He quickly turned back around as he faces Phantasia. The twelve boys have the same thought. They all took two steps forward but are soon taken aback when Jeonghan fully faces them. 

“Did I walk too fast?”

His voice was soft, as per usual, but it resonates within the club, to every single nerve in their body.

“Oh my God,” Joshua whispers. 

Seungcheol breaks his gaze away from the man standing in the dead center of the room. He watches as the Gentleman stands there, wide-eyed, unable to grasp the situation.

“Surprise,” His voice echoes. There is a playfulness to it, but everyone in the room hears it. There is this bitterness underlying it.

Seungcheol turns to look behind him. Vernon is staring blankly at Jeonghan, tears streaming from his eyes. It didn’t take a long until he realizes everyone is at their weakest. Nobody is truly understanding what’s going on. It’s only Phantasia aiming their guns at him, the rest had dropped them in shock. 

“Jeonghan.” 

He didn’t realize he even said his name. He didn’t realize he was already taking steps forward.

“Coups, who is he?”

“Me?” Jeonghan asked without ripping his gaze from him. “I’m supposed to be dead.”

S.Coups eyes begin to sting as he comes face to face with him. 

He’s staring at him, hard. He kept whispering his name, over and over again, trying to figure out if this is real or not. From the corner of his eye, he sees Chanyeol motion his side to lower their weapons. But he kept searching, searching Jeonghan’s eyes for answers.

“Seungcheol,” He tilts his head, “You happy to see me? You piece of shit.”

He allows a resonating gasp out as the last words tumbled out of Jeonghan’s mouth, all of their dazes are snapped out.

Seungcheol tried to take another step forward until he’s being pushed away, “Get away from him!”

He’s roughly shoved to the ground. Instantly, The8 is in front of him, protecting him, his revolver presses against the stranger’s chest with his other aimed at another man pointing his rifle at the Pianoman. Wonwoo has somehow gotten two armed men on their knees, machetes to their necks, while Jun’s target is to a Starship hunter pressing his barrel against Wonwoo’s back. Hoshi managed to knock out —not kill— one of the armed men and pointed his two pistols at the men closest to Jeonghan, not worried about the two goons that are aiming at him and Minghao since Dino is right behind the two with rope dangling loosely around their necks, wrapping around the youngest one’s arms, prepared to pull.

“One wrong move,” The8 threatens, “And we’d still have three more men than you even if we all stuck at the same time. You know. Scratch that. We’d probably have all.”

“I’d like to see you try to hurt a woman,” one who faced Jun pushes back. A lot of them roll their eyes. It’s the 21st century. The code is “Try my shit, get hit.”

Cocking his gun, Jun remains focused on his target, “Bet.”

Soonyoung and Minghao both shift their aim. Soonyoung now aiming at Minghao’s old target and the Chinese man aiming at the woman who had her eyes set on the other Chinese male’s head. "I swear to god. I'll pull this trigger faster than you can breathe your last breath if even a fraction of a milliliter of blood come out of him."

“Everybody calm down and drop the weapons,” Sehun calmly stood up from his seat. The way he presents himself screams authoritative.

“Why?” One of Starship’s men who Seungcheol recognizes as I.M. challenges. 

As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, dozens of red dots dance into the room, all taking aim on Starship Bounty Hunters.

“Because,” Irene tugs on red gloves before pointing her nine millimeters at the one who spoke out menacingly. “Our dear Archimedes said so.”

It’s as if Seungcheol can feel all of the bounty hunters blood run cold. If Madman can make a man run in fear, Archimedes can make him drop to the ground and beg for forgiveness without even saying a word. The most notorious of them all. The tall brooding man he met from the meeting last year… is Archimedes. White-Tail’s right-hand man. The best male bounty hunter in the game.

Seungcheol watches as the color drained from many of their faces. “N-not until they do.”

“Well I got news for you,” Sehun rolled his eyes, helping Seungcheol up, “They followed the ruled.”

“Yeah…” Taeyeon sings, “Desert Fox, and White Tail strictly said, twelve people with six people armed. And since we make the rules here, we took out your men you hid in the surrounding buildings.”

“Just drop them Minhyuk,” Jeonghan sighs, “Even without Phantasia, they would’ve shown you guys up.”

 

 

*** 

 

 

As everything settles down, the representatives sit down at the booth which turned out to only be Sehun and Taeyeon, since they were the only two that weren’t armed. Seungcheol, Mingyu and Vernon sat as well. Seokmin and Woozi had opted out to tend to Joshua who is in a state of shock. Seungcheol tenses as Jeonghan sat down along with the man named Minhyuk, and I.M.

“Now that that mess is over with,” Sehun clears his throat, “Let’s talk about the current situation.”

“The mole in Diamond Edge,” Jeonghan seethes.

“Yes. You’re Yoon Jeonghan… The infamous Angel.” Taeyeon squints, “Last time I checked you died from either gunshot wounds or a fire four months back.”

“You mean how I was _left_ to die.” He deadpans. Seungcheol couldn’t believe what he’s hearing. Mingyu raises his eyebrows high out of pure shock while Vernon’s jaw drops for the umpteenth time that day. 

“Hold the fuck up!” Vernon stands, all eyes on him.

“I just thought how it was coincidental how when I came clean to all of you about the mole, the first mission I have with more than two of you, I end up facing death, with the person who wanted me dead the most,” Jeonghan yelled, “I’ve almost died more times than I can count this year. And I would have died before too.”

“So are you saying that the mole is one of the hunters that were with you that night you almost died?” Sehun questions, a bit intrigued.

“Imagine my surprise when I woke up in Starship’s headquarters, alive and completely betrayed.”

“But… Your ring… Boo found it…” Mingyu presses. “DNA…”

 

_“By yourself now aren’t you, my little Angel,” His uncle laughed._

_“I hope you know, you can’t escape from here either,” He kept the pressure on the wound, “Isn’t it poetic, the last of the Yoon’s going out in a bang?”_

_“Don’t count your blessings son. Don't you think I have a way out of any situation? I do.”_

_Yoojung laughed as he lifted Jeonghan’s pinky, sliding the ring off his pinky. He made a grand gesture as the younger Yoon watched from the ground as his uncle pushed it onto his own. He walked away to allow his nephew to bleed out, “You’ve got five minutes before this ticker goes off you bastard. That is if you don’t bleed out first.”_

_Jeonghan watched with blurry vision his uncle walk to the far-left corner of the boiler room._

‘The way out has to be there…’ 

_His eyes wandered quickly for his surroundings only to see Seungcheol’s handgun underneath a pipe. He relied on pure adrenaline now, mustering enough strength to pick himself up and reach for the gun._

_Five loud fires go off as Yoojung stood in front of one of the machines. There was warmth spreading through his back as he slowly turned around to see an Angel stained in red, a gun pointed directly at him._

_“Say hi to dad for me.”_  

 

“I got out through a false wall,” Jeonghan’s voice cracks as he tried to keep his emotions at bay, “I ran until I made it to the street. That’s where Minhyuk found me… and I blacked out.”

“Why… Why didn’t you come back?”

“You left me for dead.”

“No…”

It’s the first Seungcheol had spoken the entire session.

“No. I begged for that door to open,” His voice begins to rise, “We didn’t have time to stay. But I wanted to. I was going to!”

“Coups-”

“NO! I wasn’t going to leave without you! I risked Shua’s, Gyu’s and Sol’s life because I couldn’t do my job properly! They had to render me unconscious to get me out of there! Don’t you dare say we left you! Don’t you fucking dare say that when Vernon, Joshua, and Mingyu had to make one of the hardest calls in their lives. Where when you were alive all this time, Joshua’s showed himself twice to us! Twice god damn it! Vernon has been running on eight hours of sleep a week since you were gone! Do you know he hasn’t even picked up a gun? Everybody at the office went MIA for an entire week after that day. Don’t even fucking get me started on Jinah. She has cried every single fucking day. Every day! When she sees your ring,” He points to his left pinky where it sat. “she cries.”

“S.Coups, maybe we should be calmer-“

“How the fuck can I be calm when the guy I loved is alive!?” He shoots back before looking directly into Jeonghan’s eyes.

There’s a shift.

It happened for a split second but Seungcheol saw it. But he’s still too mad to realize that he had just confessed he’s in love with him for the first time. “You have put me through so much hell! Do you know that? You put everyone through hell and back when we tried so hard to save you but ultimately had to choose the best decision as a whole. You pride yourself on putting people before you, so why does it change now?”

“Alright. Enough.” Sehun commands attention by standing, “I see what is going on here and I’m ending this meeting.”

“What?” 

“What?”

“Starship is obviously basing their opinions and theories on their emotions. They are enraged at the fact that Diamond Edge had seemingly abandoned The Angel, and since the shoe fits in this current situation, are pointing blame at the former employer.” Sehun begins buttoning his blazer.

“But the mole-”

“We found him.” Woozi rasps out from the back. Clenching his jaw as he looks straight at Jeonghan, “It was Baekho. We got him.”

Turning back to Minhyuk, Sehun gives him a look, as if waiting for an objection. When he receives none he continues, “If Starship chooses to repeal from the alliance, we will allow you to do so. But by doing that, you are cutting your alliance from Phantasia as well, which means any hunter that lays a hand in the wrong area, like the stunt you pulled today, we will kill you all… But we’ll allow Diamond Edge to do the honors.”

“That doesn’t sound bad at all.” Vernon eyes them with a smirk, one by one. It seems that an itch to get back in the field has returned.

“Did you hear that?” Sehun gives an arrogant smile to Minhyuk’s backup, “Madman is waiting for you to slip up. And so am I.”

Seungcheol didn’t want to admit it, but he is absolutely loving the fear Vernon is placing in Starship’s hunters. But he never tore his gaze off of Jenoghan who was staring back.

"Since Phantasia has so much faith in Diamond Edge..." Minhyuk pressed his tongue against his cheek, "We'll keep the alliance."

"Excellent. Red Queen, Karma and TY, please make sure Starship exits completely and safely."

Seungcheol watches as Jeonghan walked away, not expecting to have his heartbreak the next moment. Minhyuk reaches out and wraps his arm around Jeonghan's shoulders as they exit. He watches as the brunet turns to lock eyes with him once more before the door completely blocks his vision. 

"Cheol," Woozi shakes his arm lightly, "Cheol lets go."

“Why’d you guys help us?” he asks Taeyong, void of any feeling. Just numbness.

 “Because you twelve are innocent and didn’t deserve to face the blame of what happened to your old colleague. I am very sorry about the event. But The mole is no more,” He reassures them, “We know almost everything. Some things we don’t. Like how we didn’t know your friend’s death and him being with Starship. But what we do know, is that Diamond Edge has worked hard."

That night. Nobody knew how to feel. How to react.

The Angel’s alive. But he is no longer their Guardian Angel.

He’s on the wrong side.

 

  

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Status report.”

“The alliance remains,” he sniffs over the phone, professionalism be damned.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes Ma’am. I just… Saw someone alive… and well today. Someone I care about,” He clears his throat, wiping his tears away trying to scrub the image of his face out of his head. “But, I’m close to swiping their database from them.”

“How was the meeting?” The voice asks over the phone.

Grabbing another bottle of ibuprofen from the cabinet he swallows two pills. “You were right. They took the bait. They all did. Phantasia’s allegiance with Diamond Edge stays intact and Starship is falling apart. Although… they did bring in some big guns and surprises if you ask me.”

“Does your cover remain?”

“Yes Miss Yoona,” Closing his bathroom cabinet, he stares hard at his reflection. Hiding. Lying. Scheming. Deceiving. Going against everything he swore to. The dark hair tussled and sad eyes are a bit red. He takes a deep breath. “Nobody knows I’m the mole.”

“Good.”

“Anything else?”

“You’re almost done. Soon you’ll be free.”

“Not soon enough.”

“You’re one of the bests I hope you know that.”

“I have to be.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You do good work Jeonghan.”

 

 

 

 

 

“I know.”

 

 

 

 

 


	16. Life be like that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I would like to apologize for taking so long to update. I have literally been in many different countries and to top it all off I got sick during it, then i got better, but now i'm hecka sick again so lol @ my shitty luck. I also have started classes so that's another yikes.  
> (Sidenote: This chapter was literally the 3rd chapter i wrote for this fic [I started this fic back in december if that explains the timeline a bit better] so going back and editing it was helllll and I am so sorry for some of the mistakes I made and the wishy washy of past and present tense, i suck I'm sorry!) Anyway, here's a 10k+ chapter since according to some users I don't care about the people who read my stories <3

 

* * *

 

Silence.

What else is there to say? What else could they say?

The entire unit is sitting around the table, unsure of how they should all be reacting to this. On one hand, Jeonghan is alive. Living and breathing. He was right in front of them. Only to have the ounce of joy to be ripped away when they realized what side he’s truly on.

Licking his lips, Woozi looks up at all of them, “What do we do now?”

Soonyoung picks up on the nervous habit the younger is accustomed to. He nudges his side a bit, “One thing at a time alright?” He whispers to him, “Let’s be happy he’s alive.”

“But he hates us,” Wonwoo says, anxiously tapping his fingers on the table. “He thinks we intentionally left him there to die.”

“We have to take into consideration that he was bleeding when we last saw him. He was _dying_ ,” Mingyu tries to explain, “It doesn’t matter who the hell it is or what the hell we do, that’s traumatic. You have to take into consideration that this is the third time this year Jeonghan has had a close call.”

“So what? Are we just going to leave him with Starship? He doesn’t belong there!” Chan nearly yells.

“We take him back or we kill him.”

A round of “No!” and “What the hell man?” with a side of “Vernon!” encompasses the room in reaction to the insane idea.

“What? Are you all forgetting what we all went through too?” His voice laced with anger, “We thought he died! We thought we watched him die! But no, when he got rescued by Starship’s people he had no problem turning his back on us! If anything, he’s a traitor.”

The arguing continues to grow, Wonwoo being the only one who slightly supports where Vernon is coming from while everyone else tries to find some logical reason to it. Except for three stay silent through it all.

“It’s not him.” Joshua deadpans drawing everyone’s attention. “I mean…” he shuts his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts, “It’s him. He’s alive. But the person we talked to isn’t him. Yeah, he holds grudges but not against people he cares about.”

“Well, maybe he never cared about us at all.”

The comment leaves everyone dumbfounded. Concerned looks fly across the room at Seungcheol, even Woozi who couldn’t even look at anyone, shoots head up at the surprising statement.

“That’s not true,” Seokmin argues, “You of all people shouldn’t be saying that. You can’t say that.”

“Jeonghan’s good at getting what he wants. And if he wanted us to believe he cared? Well… he got it.” Seungcheol’s words sound soft but it spoke volumes in the room. They all watch his retreating figure silently.

Everybody in the room loves Jeonghan. They do. He was a brother to them, a friend, a mom and a dad at times. He was family. But the love they felt is immensely different from how Seungcheol loves him. He woke up next to him almost every day. They spent all their free time together, they were connected. They shared moments that stayed between the two of them. There’s something so genuine about it all that there’s no possible way that Jeonghan could have possibly faked it. Because through thy years that they’ve known him, he never looked happier than when he was with Seungcheol.

“I should’ve known he was going to die….” Joshua’s words have everyone turning. “He told me. Jeonghan said right before we go in that if anything were to happen we run. Everyone run except for him. He knew what was going to happen. Seungcheol’s right. We don’t know him at all.”

 

 

***

 

 

“You’ve been working with us for a couple of months now Jeonghan,” Hyolyn rocks back and forth in her chair, “You’ve been working with us for a couple of months now Jeonghan,” Hyolyn rocks back and forth in her chair, “So I have an assignment for you. Technically two. For tomorrow night.”

“What are they?”

The tan woman hands him two case files. He skims through them and waits for an explanation.

“For the first one, take him out. He’s a trafficker, but I want to see how you handle this so I’ll be watching and monitoring. And for the second one,” She stops and leans forward. “I want you to kill him. He might become a problem in the future.”

“I don’t have a location for the second one.”

“Oh trust me. He’ll be seeking you out. I’m almost positive.” Her voice is sharp, “On sight, means on sight. Kill him.”

With absolutely no hesitation, he nods his head, “Anything for you.” Not even looking twice at Seungcheol’s photo that’s paper clipped to the top corner of the paper.

 

 

 

 ***

 

 

 

The kill was too easy.

Jeonghan has absolutely no idea why Hyolyn would want to watch something as simple as a quick clean up.

Bending down he wipes Azrael clean on the goon’s shirt when suddenly his blood runs cold.

His eye twitches a bit as he stands slowly.

“I think you found me too easily.” The brunet chuckles not needing to turn around. He’s too familiar with the presence.

“And here I thought you wanted to be found.”

“How are the kids doing?” Jeonghan tries to make small talk to ignore the immensely large elephant in the room but Seungcheol isn’t having any of it.

“Well, first they were sad. They were confused. And now they’re angry. You think you can clue me in onto why they could be upset?” He crosses his arms.

“No clue.” Jeonghan then promptly spins around, gun ready to fire pointed straight at Seungcheol’s chest. The older doesn’t flinch, blink or even move. Instead, he tosses his new gun and iron to the side, arms out.

This is why she wanted to watch. The trafficker wasn’t the show; Seungcheol is.

“Why are you doing this?” Seungcheol’s voice is barely above a whisper. He just didn’t understand what happened. Why Jeonghan thinks that they did this on purpose. “Jeonghan please.”

Four months. Instead of ash in the ground, Jeonghan’s standing right in front of him. But he couldn’t touch him. Not with the distance between them and the Glock pointed at him. God did Seungcheol miss him so much.

“It should be me asking those questions! Not you!”

“How could you have possibly thought that we wanted to leave you? Han… I begged. I cried. I tried. For months I deluded myself that you were somehow alive but when I finally came to terms that you were gone… Jeonghan please…”

“I have my reasons, and I am not obligated to tell them to the likes of you.”

“How much of us was a lie?” Seungcheol’s words seem to have gotten to Jeonghan. He saw the younger’s eyes widen at the question. “Your friendships? Your trust? Was it even real?”

“Shut up!”

Seungcheol knows he’s not much of a gun person. Especially if it isn’t his. If Jeonghan wanted to take a kill, it’s with Azrael or Lucifer (“you named your revolver too?” “Yeah. Don’t you?”) and not a Glock.

“Why? You don’t want to be reminded of the people who care about you? Who love you?”

“Choi I swear, shut up right now.”

“Or what? You’ll shoot me? Riddle me this; did you ever care about me? Was our relationship just some pass time?”

He knows the answer, at least he thinks he does. There’s no way to fake the past year they spent together. That’s too hard.

“Of course I took the relationship seriously!” Jeonghan snaps, “But you were a liability.”

“We were partners. We were friends. We were together!” Seungcheol shouts until his face turns red, settling for the talking method since his iron and gun are currently out of reach.

Jeonghan’s eyes raw with anger. “What does that matter now?! I’m not with you anymore!”

There’s a moment where Seungcheol feels like someone is holding him by the throat. His airways shut and an uncomfortable feeling arises in his chest, “Jeonghan don’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.”

“All the reason to,” Jeonghan’s eyes are tearing up, pulling the trigger. The bullet flying straight into Seungcheol’s chest. The impact causes him to stumble back on the ground, gasping.

Seungcheol’s trying to catch his breath, get air into his lungs, he can barely hear the gun clatter to the ground with the ringing in his ear. The adrenaline and shock still pumping through his body, he still heaves while he feels the fresh tears falling down his face.

Jeonghan just shot him.

Ouch.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

_December 12, 2017_

_“Bitch down,” Jeonghan sang aloud._

_“Good job idiot, signing off!” Woozi rang into his here._

_Jeonghan wiped his blade on another of his disposable handkerchiefs, dropping it on his way out. The walk to his car was a bit of a distance but he’d survive. That was until a black SUV slowed down next to him, rolling the windows down._

_“Yoon Jeonghan.”_

_“Who’s asking?”_

_Another body leaned forward, a warm smile on her face. “ACD and Phantasia. Get in Mister Angel, we have a lot to talk about.”_

_His eyes widened a bit. It was definitely White Tail he was looking at; her beauty was unmistakable. Especially when he saw her at that one meeting. Stepping inside the vehicle he slumped into the seat as he looked around to see White Tail, another business looking woman and another man who seemed to be the bodyguard. ‘Powerful women…’_

_“Did I do something wrong?” He asked nervously. Usually, he wasn’t the type to get nervous and hesitant in these types of situations, but when you’re face-to-face with probably the most powerful woman in the game next to another woman who seemed to be powerful too, he really couldn’t let his guard down._

_“Not at all. We want you on our service,” The woman, she seemed a bit older than White Tail but still young and proper. No signs of wrinkles. Her hair was long, and the pencil skirt with the blazer screamed business, “I’m Boa. I work with the ACD.”_

_Jeonghan nearly bit his tongue._ ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…’ _Boa was the previous boss of Phantasia before stepping down. Little did anybody know was that she became one of the bosses of everybody._

_Pointing to himself, Jeonghan asked, completely flustered, how, what, when, where and why._

_“We have reason to believe that Starship is working and distributing missions to unqualified contractors to try to overthrow the system. If there’s no system, then everything is ruined.”_

_“So what do you need me for?”_

_“We need you to gain Starship’s trust, and infiltrate their base. Stay with them until we clear you. ACD is filled with many workers, there are few who have formed an alliance with Starship. Your mission will be complete once every, last, ACD betrayal, is dead.” White Tail commanded._

_“You want me to double cross Diamond Edge?” Jeonghan asked, baffled. That’s his family. His life. His home. “I’m sorry, I know you’re you, and you all are like God’s epitome of brilliance but I can’t betray them. Especially not Nana.”_

_“I know it’s a big thing to ask, we know where your loyalty lies, but Diamond Edge is Starship’s biggest target at this point in the game,” Yoona explained further, “In the long run, you’ll be protecting Diamond Edge. You have to lose some to get the bigger benefits in the end.”_

_“Why don’t you send someone in yourselves? With all due respect Madam White Tail, your highness, but I see no point as to why Phantasia can’t do this themselves?”_

_“Your relationship with certain members of Starship has made you a viable option. Even Doctor Thunder and The Ghost we took into consideration. But you know Spade better than any of them. And one of these men is connected to the death of your father.”_

_Of course they knew that. Why wouldn’t they? With Jeonghan, he tries to keep himself cryptic, under lock and key at all times. Yet dealing with the all-knowing Phantasia, he felt like an open book, so exposed._

_“Does Nana know about this? This is huge-”_

_“Yes. She does.”_

_“Then… What do you need me to do?”_

_“We have five men, only have the name of one. We need you to look into it. Be a part of Starship, get the other names and kill them. There used to be eight, but we immediately found them, rid of them so it isn’t too suspicious when you start with them and their sources start dropping like flies. I’m sure you know Minhyuk. Their firewall is way too secure and is a different program that none of our people can crack.”_

_*_

_Which leads him to where he ended up. A bar for an “It’s been awhile!” drinks with his old friend._

_"I'm just sick of the way Desert Fox and Madman are treating me!” Jeonghan almost shouted in – false – frustration._

_“Here’s another drink man,” Minhyuk laughed, sliding another shot to him. “Why don’t you just leave? Go rogue? That’s what that S.Coups guy did who’s with your company now.”_

_“Because I need money. Sure, I’ve got shit saved up but that’ll last me for only a bit. I need a change of pace. Ya feel?”_

_Jeonghan’s trying his damn best to be convincing from one bounty hunter to another. And hopefully, a buzz of alcohol and the loud commotion of the bar did the trick._

_“Come with me to Starship.”_

_Too easy._

_*_

_“Every time you get a mission run it by me okay? If one of us fumbles this could fall apart. I’ll feed you information that’s only half true but it will keep Hyolyn occupied and appeased,” Nana instructs, “I’ll keep the boys off your tail for as long as possible but you know I can’t stop Woozi and curiosity and Vernon and his perceptiveness.”_

_“I don’t know if I can do this,” Jeonghan squeezed and unsqueezed his hands, “What if they see right through me? Nana, I can play different identities in different roles but I can’t pretend to be me.”_

_Circling her desk she places both hands at his arms, “Hey, you’re The Angel, remember that. You can do this. Just don’t die on me.”_

_“I’m invincible, they can’t kill me.”_

_*_

 

_Getting in with the third best contractors in the game was a lot easier than he expected. He met with their boss relaying his fake frustrations out and how he needs change and all that bullshit he could come up with. Hyolyn seemed to buy it. Apparently, since the change in the hierarchy (something he didn’t forget to mention) they haven’t been on the best of terms._

_There are some terms to this new partnership. Giving whatever intel she wants from Diamond Edge over to her. It made his blood boil nonetheless but like Yoona said, he has to take risks to get to the better picture._

_There are also some terms and conditions to this whole ordeal._

_“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he watched as the two of Starship’s men set up mics around his room. Precaution. They have to trust him before they fully accept them. Around the clock monitoring. They even went as far as giving him a replica ring with a mic built in._

_“We already have cameras set up in your building and across it, so we know who’s inside who’s out where you are at all times.”_

_“Okay, yeah, I get that, but this is my room…” he dragged out the last word trying to get his point across. “And I never take this ring off.”_

_“And?”_

_Sighing, he rolled his eyes, “Are you guys really going to listen to everything? As in when I’m getting some too?”_

_Minhyuk’s eyes bulged out. “Well, who are you planning to have sex with?”_

_“S.Coups, my partner,” Jeonghan smiled mischievously, anticipating himself for a great time, “I can separate work and personal real well, and we’re gonna get real personal. I’m gonna make sure of it.”_

_Clearing his throat, Minhyuk, scratches his neck, “Well, thankfully, it’s not going to be me listening. It’ll just be recording and tracking you and we’ll only be listening in on when certain words are said or something out of the ordinary is said.”_

 

_*_

_Getting in contact with the ACD and Phantasia was always sporadic. Never the same way, never a certain time. Sometimes in person and other times they’d cut off all feedback so only Jeonghan would be transmitting to them. Sometimes she just goes straight to Nana for updates. On one particular day, during a mission for Starship, Yoona had a radio scrambler for the entire city for an entire ten minutes for a status update._

_Handing her a list that he complied he scratches the back of his neck, “These are the names that I saw on some of their S class hunters. They aren’t giving me anything remotely close to them even though I’m like ten times better than them,” he throws in quickly before getting to the point, “But yeah, Minhyuk, I.M. and Wonho let me look at their case files so I can ‘learn how things are done here’ when really, I was just being a snoop. Those are the initials and some partial names. They use a server called Sonder X, never heard of it before, but they won’t let me access it until they trust me.”_

_“That’s good. You’re doing good. I know you don’t like this, but you’re going to have to start sabotaging some of your missions for Diamond Edge you know that right?”_

_“I’ve already started,” Jeonghan gave an uneasy sigh, “I’m tipping off some of my bounties as time goes by, failing missions…”_

_The head of contractors put her hand on his shoulder, “I’ll look into it, look at the failed missions and I’ll get Archimedes to get rid of them. Don’t worry. It’s hard but stay focused.”_

_*_

_He surveyed the headquarters, eyes roaming on each and every one of his co-workers. Eyebrows raised slightly when he sees just the person he could use. Lifting the box up, he intentionally runs into his target._

_“Oh, Baekho! Hey!”_

_“Oh, hi, I haven’t seen you around lately.”_

_“I’ve been busy with the S.Coups being my partner and my mom, it’s hectic, but can you do me a favor and…” he scans the walls to see just which camera would get the best angle. “Can you bring this over to my office and just put it on the floor? I have to consult Josh about a case.”_

_“Yeah sure, no problem,” The older happily took the box away from him to his office._

_*_

_Jeonghan picked at his nails dumbly as he watched Minhyuk load a gun in the middle of their huge arena like training space, “I get training at Diamond Edge? Why do I have to do it here too?”_

_“We don’t use gun ranges,” Minhyuk laughed handing him the gun, “We use each other.”_

_Feeling a vein burst in his forehead the blond gawked at him, “What?”_

_“Don’t worry, we train and practice with rubber bullets,” he pulled on out squeezing it to prove his point, “Doesn’t kill, but hurts like a bitch.”_

_*_

_What Nana did was smart. It was a strategic way for him to hide in plain sight. But it also meant spending less time with his new boyfriend._

_Boyfriend. Sounded weird. But it’s true. They just started dating and already he’s having abandonment issues – which he never gets._

_“So, how is it over at Diamond Edge?”_

_“They think there’s a mole in the system,” Jeonghan answered cheekily. “All eyes are on Madman right now.”_

_“Brilliant.”_

_*_

_“Umm…”_

_Jeonghan turned, smiling sweetly at Wonho, glowing, “Can I help you?”_

_“How… How was your…”_

_“My night?” He sipped his coffee innocently, but had a wicked glint in his eyes, “You should know, right? Since you’re in charge of monitoring me.”_

_Clearing his throat, he looked around the break room, “I thought you said it… it would never happen again, and I wouldn’t have to worry about… that…”_

_“I thought so too,” Jeonghan nodded, smiling at the memories of last night, “But… He’s hot. I’m hot. We’re dating. Sex is a great thing. Like wow.”_

_*_

_Hospitalized. It fucking sucks. Being on leave of all of his jobs. All three of them. As Diamond Edge’s bounty hunter, as Starship’s mole, and as ACD’s double agent._

_But the fun stuff is when he got to spend all day and all night with Seungcheol. Jeonghan really had to think long and hard about it to come to terms with that his boyfriend was the only thing that truly brought him joy in this shitty world. Yet he didn’t get to enjoy some of it because of what he knew. How their private time wasn’t all that private because of the mics hidden in his apartment. Or how their walks on the street weren’t just for themselves because he could feel the eyes of some Starship hunters watching his and Seungcheol’s every move. If it wasn’t bad enough that his ring had a mic in it but also a tracking device? It was like being at a zoo and Starship was the impatient child banging on the cage walls asking for it to do something._

_So, he just held on to Seungcheol tighter. Holding onto happiness a little longer._

_*_

_Two days after his return to Diamond Edge he returns to Starship. Warm greetings and "welcome backs" came at him from all directions and he could only smile. It was like he belonged but he knew he didn’t. He knew, in the end, he was eventually going to betray all of them._

_Picking up the file from Soobin he flips through it running into Minhyuk, “Hey.”_

_His friend’s face goes red and eyes wide, “Uhh… Hi... I mean. Hey.”_

_“Are you okay?”_

_“I… umm. I see… that… I see that you’re… you look great.”_

_Before Jeonghan could even thank him Wonho strides up to them, an unusual bounce in his step as he wraps an arm around both their shoulders, “Is this what Karma tastes like? It’s your job Wonho… You do your job Wonho…” he said in a mocking sing-song voice before whisking away leaving Jeonghan confused even more and Minhyuk redder than ever._

_Then it all clicked. “Ah. I see.” He bit over his lips trying hard not to laugh, nodding his head quickly._

_“You… you and… You and Seungcheol… I… learned his- real name… because…. Yeah…” Minhyuk was a stuttering mess, “And it was… yesterday…. And like – it was. It was eleven in the morning. And. I? It wasn’t from your… your bedroom-”_

_“He was very happy to see me at work again,” Jeonghan smiled trying to play off his amusement. He lets out his laughs when Minhyuk starts walking away, “Did you really expect me to actually ignore him for twelve hours? That’s impossible!”_

_*_

_“We’ll look into it, don’t get into too much trouble.”_

_If Yoona were to be standing there at that moment, he knew she’d be looking directly at him._

_A moment later he received an email with coordinates, knowing well who it was from._

_Seungcheol had just uncovered a huge deal of information that now Diamond Edge, Starship, and the ACD know. Seconds later the email disappears from his inbox completely._

_“I need some air.”_

_“Do you want me to come with you?”_

_“No.”_

_He hated how harsh it came out. Never had he wanted to use that tone with Seungcheol but he needed it to be blunt and make sure that Seungcheol stayed away. That’s the last thing he needed._

_Getting to the location – a café, how quaint – he sits down, back to back with Boa._

_“We locked your locations in Diamond Edge’s headquarters, and looped the sound of breathing and keys typing,” She says, looking straight ahead. “We pulled up all the information we could on this guy, and I advise you not to open it now.” The older woman slides a paper bag towards him with her heel. “That’s the man you’re looking for. Get him, you get Starship’s mainframe.”_

_“How do I go about this?”_

_“Plant this is one of your agent’s desk, follow through and pursue. We have a date and time,” She begins to hesitate, “On that day, when you get orders from us, you follow them. Do not question us and just trust us.”_

_*_

_He laid in Seungcheol’s bed after showering, only sweats on waiting for the actual owner of the house to get home. Jeonghan fiddled with the ring on his pinky, he had long given Nana back his real ring. This one felt heavier. Not because of its extra tech, but because of what it meant. Lying._

_At that point in their relationship, they truly told everything to each other. To have this weight and secrecy was eating at him especially because of what he was going to drop tomorrow._

_“Whatcha thinking about?”_

_Jeonghan blinked out of his trance and looked up at his boyfriend taking off his dress shirt. “How you take forever to get home.”_

_He watched as Seungcheol climbed onto the bed with wrapping his arms around his own bare waist. The blond would complain about how he didn’t even change out of his jeans yet, but he couldn’t bring himself to._

_Wanting to spend just a little more time with him._

_“Home?” He echoed. “Speaking of home. How would you feel if we… shared one?”_

_He could hear the undertone of anxiety in his voice with the question, finding it utterly endearing. They practically sleep in the same bed almost every night. The only thing the two haven’t done was say the godforsaken “L” word._

_In his opinion, it didn’t matter if they haven’t exchanged the profession of love. They could have been together for ten years and not have said it and he wouldn’t bat an eyelash._

_He knew Joshua would give him so much shit for moving in together before saying one measly word, but hey, Jeonghan’s living life the way he wants to._

_Deciding to finally put Seungcheol out of his look of anticipation he sighed dramatically, “Well I don’t know, let me check my phone next to my side of the bed where all my other crap is and text my mom about my boyfriend who’s in bed with me asking if I officially want to sleep next to him under one roof.”_

_“Is that yes?”_

_“Yes, it’s a yes you idiot.”_

_*_

 

_The strategy is simple. Plant the evidence, go through with it. Act determined to get it done, get the information and boom. Done._

_What wasn’t simple was when a photo slipped from the file revealing just who he was going up against._

_He hadn’t seen his uncle in over two decades because he thought he was dead. He was supposed to be dead. His involvement in this entire situation changed a lot._

_“You didn’t tell me my own uncle was involved. Aren’t you guys supposed to know my whole life?”_

_“Truly Jeonghan we didn’t know,” Yoona and Nana try to reason. They understood where he was coming from and had a bit of guilt hanging over their heads that neither of them was able to find that information on him._

_“So you guys want me to kill my uncle? Is that what it is?”_

_“Jeonghan you don’t have to-”_

_“Because I’m going to do it.”_

_Vengeance is his new motif. He’s angry. Betrayed. Fooled. His own uncle had a hand in his father’s death? His own god damn blood?_

_Information in his hands or not, his uncle is not getting out of there alive._

_*_

_“Can we talk?”_

_“About what?”_

_“You.”_

_A skeptical look is given to Seungcheol, what this hell is this. “What about me?”_

_“You’ve been on edge and not yourself lately. For a while, you’ve been out of it. You’re even a lot more tired than before, are you okay?”_

_Leave it to his own boyfriend to analyze him and notice the slight difference in him._

_“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”_

_There’s pout that made its way on his face as he moved strands of his fringes out of his brow, “Yeah don’t worry about you Mister I’m gonna plunge to my death and get shot in the gut.”_

_Jeonghan mocked the sentence and Seungcheol mocked him mocking, the small exchange ending with a quick kiss and a simple “bye” and “see you.”_

_If only both had known that that would be their last._

_*_

‘I’m bleeding still…’ _the blond inwardly cries before yelling on the outside._

_“Jeonghan-” Woozi’s voice was cut, and a new voice came in._

_“Jeonghan, it’s Boa, can you read me,” He grunted in response. Her words flashback into his mind. Do as she says, no question. “The only way you can get out of there with all of you alive is if you fake it.”_

_The direct order rang through his ears, immensely confused._

_Fake it? Fake what?_

_“Angel. You have to die. Tonight.”_

_Jeonghan’s blood runs cold. Looking towards his friends, his bounty hunter façade crumbling._

_“I know it’s a lot to ask, but you have to, especially with your case. I told you to do as I say. So follow.”_

_Before he could even consider opposing the order, his uncle gives them all an out._

_“Jeonghan, take them out and lock the door. I promise. I’m not going to let you die.”_

_Once everybody was out, using all his strength, he slammed the metal door closed. He could hear the banging of the door and Seungcheol’s muffled cries. Comparing the pain from the wound and his chest felt about the same at the moment. He tried to yell back as loud as he could to get them to leave, muting his sob more when Seungcheol’s pleads stopped halfway._

_“There’s a false wall on the side of the boiler room. Use that.”_

_Hobbling over to his uncle’s lifeless body he takes the cane and he rushes out of there, barely making it. Jeonghan ended up getting thrown a couple of meters from the blast adding more to his injuries._

_Still, having to think fast, his hands tremble as he takes his blade to pry open the handle of the cane. As it came off, he sees the head of the jewel with a flash drive attached. Typical old people._

_Struggling to flip over on his stomach he feels around until he finds a large rock. Carving in a small engraving into the stone he uses it to dig a small hole and drops the USB inside, and the rock on top._

_He’s so tired. Everything hurt. His body was going numb. He could feel the rubble and dirt underneath him as well as blood stains and ash all over his body. Every breath he took was jagged and rough, it was so hard._

_The last thing he saw was a couple of blurred faces hovering over him._

_“Don’t forget my knife.”_

_*_

_“Thank god you’re alive.”_

_“Your ring gave us an indicator that you were in trouble.”_

_*_

_“They just left you there?”_

_“Are you fucking with me? That’s messed up.”_

_*_

_“Rumor has it that Diamond Edge thinks the Angel died.”_

_“That’s okay.”_

_*_

_“They’ll regret they did that.”_

_*_

_“We have an upper hand, we’ll get them back for what they did to you.”_

_*_

_“I think one of them was the mole.”_

_“A mole?”_

_Sipping his water, Jeonghan nodded, “at least… someone who wanted me dead.”_

_*_

_Four months. Four months had gone by without seeing their faces._

_His face._

_It took a while for Yoona to contact him again. About two months. There was just no way to since he was basically living at the headquarters of Starship for the time being._

_After the little stunt that occurred between him and his uncle, their trust in him skyrocketed as well as they respect. He’d finally obtained access to the mainframe. But he needed Yoona or Boa to tell him what to do._

_When he’s finally able to get around on his own, he withdraws money from his account under his mother’s name. Buying an apartment on the other side of Seoul, the furthest possible one from Seungcheol’s._

_He revisited the sight with Minhyuk against Hyolyn’s digression. The two of them wandered around the sight, Jeonghan recounting everything that happened. When they end at where he was found, the brunet – he was unconscious for a while, he didn’t want to bleach his hair again – asks for just a moment alone, as if the memory was too painful. But once Minhyuk’s back was turned Jeonghan began searching._

_It took him almost five minutes to finally found the stone with the ‘SC’ engraved into it. Flipping the stone over the wave of relief he feels when he sees the flash drive still there, albeit a bit dirty, but still intact._

_One more step closer to being done._

_*_

_After he gotten settled in his temporarily new life, he was finally contacted with his new phone and life. It was about damn time too._

_It made things a lot easier since Starship wasn’t constantly listening in anymore with his ring gone and mics no more. Although on occasion he’d go onto the server and check up on the mics and cameras that were still in his old apartment but it’d be completely silent._

_“On record as of that day, you’re dead,” Boa explains slowly as she sits down on the new couch. “Everyone at Diamond Edge is still in mourning. This has been the lowest ever recorded feedback of missions in history.”_

_“Everybody?”_

_“Nana included.”_

_So even Desert Fox doesn’t know he’s alive. Only Starship, White Tail, and Boa._

_*_

_“Our resources are dropping files,” Jeonghan can hear Hyolyn talking to Mad Clown and I.M. in a hushed tone. He’s waiting his turn to have a meeting with her. “How did the ACD sniff them out?”_

_“It started when that Angel kid hopped on board.”_

_“That’s not true, we lost two before Jeonghan entered,” He heard I.M. defend him, “Plus, he just got back on his feet, and he’s been in physical therapy. We don’t even let him on the field nor the computers without supervision.”_

_Hook. Line. Sinker._

_*_

_"The meeting has been set," Hyolyn clapped her hands together, "Tonight, we make Diamond Edge regret what they did to The Angel."_

_There were cheers going around the headquarters. He felt a hand on the small of his back, "You don't look too happy,"_

_Jeonghan lets a small smile slip. It wasn't that they were bad people, they aren't. It was just that they were playing on opposite teams. But nobody knew. Especially since Minhyuk had been awfully kind to him since day one._

_There was no denying that Starship's star bounty hunter took a liking to him, he wasn't really subtle. But Jeonghan just wasn't feeling the same way. Possibly because of a certain hunter from Daegu that was on the other side of the city, still thinking he was dead._

_*_

_"There they are..." he whispered to himself as he watched his old team file into the club._

_Starship has been planning this trap since the day they learned about Jeonghan's semi-real story. While the rest of the team set up in separate buildings around the perimeter, he was allowed to stake out the meeting place. Their plan was to rattle them with Jeonghan first then strike when they were all caught off guard. Of course, he knew that the plan would never work, especially since The8 and Wonwoo were there._

_Through the glass doors, he saw Jun approach. He fiddled with his silk button up, extremely nervous to see their reactions. He heard I.M's voice inside his earpiece telling him to make a move. Quickly he stepped in front of the door only to see Jun looking right at him before jumping back in shock. Jeonghan had taken that split second of panic to run to the back and enter the kitchen area._

_“No… I’m sorry I’m just seeing things… I thought I saw…”_

_“Saw what?”_

_“The Angel…”_

_When he heard the all too familiar name, he allowed the back door to slam shut. The only sound that was heard were guns being loaded and the sound of his footsteps._

_His heart raced as he walked out from behind the bar. The Angel completely ignored the firearms aimed at him, he watched as his old team had their heads to the ground, all listening for the movements like they were trained to do._

_But then he almost faltered when the first backsides he was faced with were Vernon's and Seungcheol's._

_'The sooner you finish this mission, the sooner you can go back to him...'_

_He chanted as he lifted his head high as he passed them one by one. Already, he could feel Seungcheol's eyes boring holes in his back. But he wasn't expecting for Seokmin to turn around and grab his arm._

_As soon as their eyes locked, his hand fell limp on his wrist. He continued walking as if he was dragging Seokmin to turn and follow him, he decided to finally turn around as he released his grip._

_It hurt him when he saw all of their eyes gloss over, so much that he turned around to face Phantasia. He felt them step forward. Spinning around he witnessed them all take a hesitant step back, almost wanting to laugh._

_"Did I walk too fast?"_

_"Oh my god."_

_Not wanting to look, he already knew it was Joshua who said it. Once he looks at him, he knows it's over since Joshua knew him more than he knows himself. It still killed him inside to hear his voice so broken. He hated himself._

_"Surprise!" Jeonghan sang, hating himself even more for sparing Vernon a quick look. The boy was void of emotion, but the tears in his eyes were indicators. He needed to look somewhere else. Quickly bouncing from Woozi's red face, to-_

_"Jeonghan."_

_Another piece of him broke inside, crumbling into dust. Turning to look at the owner of the voice, nothing could prepare him for the look Seungcheol had on his face._

_"Coups who is he?"_

_'They can hear and see you, keep up the front'_

_"Me? I'm supposed to be dead," he tried so hard, but he couldn't look away._

_His heart stopped as Seungcheol took a slow step towards him. His heart was beating with every time his name fell out of Seungcheol's mouth till he was in front of him._

_'Act, you have to act,'_

_Tilting his head, he gave an innocent smile thought it broke him even more, "Seungcheol."_

_'It feels so good saying it out loud'_

_"Happy to see me? You piece of shit." Trying to pull the memory of their first meeting out._

_Everybody shifted as soon as he spoke while the man in front of him was about to speak, he noticed Wonwoo slip behind the bar while Chan slowly moved to the pillar next to the door. It all didn't make sense until Minhyuk stormed in shoving Seungcheol to the ground._

'Wrong move ‘Hyuk' 

_Jeonghan watched with hidden amusement as his –former– team took aim, watching as The8 pressed the gun further and further into Minhyuk's stomach. He didn't even notice Hoshi until a thud was heard and him pointing his guns at both I.M and Minhyuk._

_"One wrong move,” Minghao's eyes were on fire, “And we’d still have three more men than you even if we all struck at the same time. You know. Scratch that. We’d probably have all.”_

_“I’d like to see you try to hurt a woman,” he heard Daosum challenge. Jeonghan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Did Starship really think that lowly of Diamond Edge that they wouldn't go for women who were on the wrong side of the track? He could almost feel Joshua's urge to laugh. Nana had taught them that if they only cared about money while risking innocent lives, it didn't matter who you are._

_Turning towards Jun, as he casually sat on top of the bar counter, he cocked his gun, “Bet.” When the reply left his mouth, the girl pulled out one more gun and aimed it right at Jun’s head._

_Another bad idea. Threatening either Jun or Minghao. Man, Starship really doesn’t do their research before attacking. If one is put in any type of harm’s way the other would gearshift and go straight to the other. It was like asking for a death sentence._

_“Everybody calm down and drop the weapons.”_

_“Why?” I.M challenged._

_It was horrifying as dozens or red beams filled the room, most on people's chest while two were on Minhyuk's forehead._

'Shit... they got to backup'

_The Person he knew as the Red Queen aimed her nine millimeter at I.M._

'Holy fuck that guy is the right-hand man of White Tail...'

_Everyone knew the name, Archimedes. He used to have a partner before he disappeared. That is until he began working with White Tail in Europe as well._

_“Well, I got news for you,” Archimedes roughly bumped shoulders with Minhyuk before helping Seungcheol up, “They followed the ruled.”_

_As the Siren listed all the buildings they found men in, the more laughable a small everyone else got._

_“Just drop them Minhyuk,” Jeonghan almost scoffed, “Even without Phantasia, they would’ve shown you guys up.”_

_He didn't mean to say the last part, but it came out so naturally; knowing how good Diamond Edge's bounty hunters are is natural._

_*_

_As the meeting continued, Jeonghan tried to stop himself from looking over to Joshua. His best friend was as white as a sheet. Woozi had been trying to get him to drink some water and block his view of him. It was soul crushing but he has to keep up a façade. But it didn't help that he couldn't look directly in front of him since Seungcheol, Vernon and Mingyu were sitting there staring at him._

_When he heard the Siren speak he let the words tumble out of his mouth, "You mean how I was left to die?"_

_He didn't flinch under Vernon's harsh tone but he was very much affected. He allowed himself to vomit out what happened but made sure to make it seem as if he hated them. It came so easily but he hated himself more and more._

_It wasn't until Vernon whispered why he didn't come back. He convinced himself that showing nothing but anger would help. Except it was growing harder and harder. Especially after Seungcheol stood up and began screaming._

_“I begged for that door to open.”_

_That was true. Jeonghan remembered clearly the sound of banging on the door._

_“We didn’t have time to stay. But I wanted to. I was going to!”_

_“Coups-“ he couldn't stop himself from saying his name._

_It isn’t until Seungcheol all out blows up on him does he feel the consequences of doing his job. The more he spoke the more Jeonghan could feel every single heartstring being grabbed at causing so much pain. He was suffocating when there’s an endless supply of oxygen all around him._

_Yet he continued to stick his ground. He continued to stare hard into his eyes. The inside of his body felt as if it was pot containing all of his emotions, and one wrong move will cause it to spill over, releasing the content._

_“S.Coups, maybe we should be calmer-“_

_“How the fuck can I be calm when the guy I loved is alive!?”_

_There._

_At that moment, everything in his body just fell apart. His eyes widened as his mind slowly processed the words that slipped out of Seungcheol's mouth. His heart continued to pound hard against his chest. The look he was giving him was filled with so much hurt, sadness and anger but yet there was still so much love in them. If Jeonghan didn’t have that ounce of willpower left, he would have blown his cover right then and there. Everything Seungcheol was saying continued to go into one ear and out the other. The only thing replaying in his mind was the "guy I loved."_

_He didn’t even realize the meeting came to an end as he blindly let Minhyuk guide him out the door, still not clearly hearing anything, he gave a quick glance over his shoulder to look at his – former – team once more before zeroing in on Seungcheol. Everyone had the look of hurt, confusion, and sadness. He trusted his team so much but he had to do this one alone. No matter how much it was killing him._

_*_

_Walking towards his temporary apartment, he shrunk underneath Minhyuk's gaze. The other wanted to say something, that much he knew._

_“So… you and S.Coups were more serious than I thought…”_

_They were partners. They were going to move in together. They love each other. Or… Loved. “We used to.”_

_"But you used to love him."_

_Jeonghan didn't even waver, "No." he could have convinced himself._

_"Okay..." he slowly nodded while he unlocked the door. "It's because you still do, right?"_

_Almost frozen he snapped, "NO!" it hurt to lie._

_"Are you sure?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“Because I know you’re with us but that doesn’t mean your heart is.” He started, “Why’d you join Starship? I know you said it just wasn’t right for you, and it was shitty but you had a best friend there. You had a boyfriend there? You didn’t fully commit until the accident? It doesn’t make sense.”_

_The brunet thinks for a minute, wishing that the topic would just be dropped; but he knew better. “Ever heard of Stockholm syndrome? Where you fall in love with your capture, or you learn to love something because you have no choice? That’s what it was. I was attached to something toxic. Try letting that go.”_

_It was enough for Minhyuk to believe him. And enough for his next move. “So would it be wrong if I kissed you?”_

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

_“I’m sorry, that was abrupt and out of nowhere and-”_

_Not even thinking, Jeonghan goes for it._

_He doesn’t really know why he went for it. Maybe it was because of how kind he was. Or maybe how helpful and understanding. And maybe, just maybe, in a different lifetime, they could have been together. But most of all; maybe he wanted to see if it really was just Seungcheol that could fill the emptiness. Because as they separate, Jeonghan feels absolutely nothing except for dread._

_Even if it killed him to see Seungcheol just hours ago, it felt like torture now. It’s becoming painful to just breathe thinking about how he just kissed someone who wasn’t the one he wanted. Seungcheol knows he’s alive and he’s not here with him._

_Once more he goes deaf to everything, ignoring Minhyuk’s flustered state as he bids goodbye. Reluctantly going inside the apartment, he collapses his back on the door and begins to break down._

_Between the hiccups and wiping of tears, all he thinks about is that there isn’t one cell in his body that doesn’t miss Choi Seungcheol._

_"Give me one good reason I shouldn't run you over with my car."_

_He lets a forced laugh escape his lips as he wipes his face with his sleave."I don't have a good reason, just help me till it's over. Please, I'm begging."_

_Uncrossing his legs from the couch Woozi stands up handing him a tissue. He didn't have to answer, he already promised to help him._

_It was a month ago when he found Jeonghan. He was pulling up old bank statements for Jun when he saw activity on Jeonghan's account. It was something he found extremely odd, especially since his “mother” withdrew almost all of his funds within a span of two weeks. Woozi had tried to put it in the back of his mind but that didn't work when he was in his office at three in the morning, going through transactions for housing that was paid in cash in a span of two months after he died. Narrowing down the search to four people in Seoul, the only possible one was 'Jung Yoonhan' living on the other side of Seoul._

_He had gone alone. When he found the apartment, Woozi had stood in front casually but it wasn't till around midnight when he heard a car pull up. The footsteps came to a holt. It took everything in him to turn and face whatever was in store for him._

_"You took longer than I expected." Jeonghan had said after a moment of silence._

_"Sorry about that. I recently lost someone. Not my best."_

_"I lost my family too..." Jeonghan sighed. "I'd much rather you kill me inside than in the hall."_

_Jeonghan had to explain his mission to him in full and he needed help figuring out Starship’s server and some more of the encryption on the flash drive that would definitely pin Starship. So, for an entire month, Woozi has been helping him on the low; being the only one who knew that their Angel is alive._

_"I just came over from consoling S.Coups because he and Joshua have no idea how to react to you being alive. They're literally emotionally constipated I swear." Woozi rolled his eyes taking a seat at the monitor._

_"The sooner this is over the sooner all of you guys can beat the shit outta me for going behind your backs," The brunet throws the tissues away and tossed his guest a bag of chips._

_Woozi sighed because he knew how hard this was for the older, "No, I get it. You needed to lay low. But you've gotten almost everyone, Park Jinyoung is all you have left."_

_"It's going to be tough. I need to make sure they don’t catch me."_

_"The ACD has a lot of faith in you. But so does Starship. I don't know how everyone's going to react to you being a double agent."_

_“You planted the evidence I gave you right,” Jeonghan shrugged off his jacket, watching his friend work his magic, “You guys said you got Baekho?”_

_“Yeah, Baekho’s in a holding cell and under surveillance at all times. Why’d you pick him?”_

_“He got too into mine and Seungcheol’s business.”_

_The younger scoffed, giving him a small “Touché” before going back to typing. "Once I get the information off of Starship's mainframe, you’ll have a max of two days before they trace it. I can cover up my tracks but not for too long. I’m the best but Wonho is good too.” He slides over pulling out his own and Jeonghan’s new laptop, inserting a couple of more flashy flash drives into every port and extension._

_When Jeonghan informed Boa and Yoona that Snake Eyes had discovered him, they had sent over all of the evidence and flash drives collected from the traitors they’ve already taken out. They all believe that somehow, they all fit together like a puzzle and that there’s a major link between the Spade company and Starship._

_“I have to get to him soon because the ACD is planning a raid on Starship and if I don’t have all the evidence that links Spade and Starship together, then this is all for nothing and Spade walks free while only Starship takes the fall.”_

_“And this is why you have me,” Woozi mutters as he finished typing and finally pressing enter._

_*_

_Panic ran through his veins when he was handed the files. It’s either he’s been too good at hiding or he’s on the watch list._

_He escapes to Starship’s weapon room, shutting the door fast. The only room that doesn’t have a camera._

_Jeonghan leans his forehead against the wooden door, breathing jagged. Just the thought of hurting Seungcheol wanted to make him vomit. He couldn’t even properly look at the photo they gave him – in his opinion was a god-awful photo that was at a horrible angle that didn’t do him justice._

_He jolts away from the door when the knob turns, wiping away whatever tears he felt. Minhyuk steps inside, not even hiding the fact that he looks him up and down._

_“Are you alright?” He tried his best to say he was fine, but it was useless when Minhyuk took the files from him. They still haven’t spoken to each other about the other night’s mishap and he has a feeling that it might be brought up sooner than later. Looking up from the second file, the look on Minhyuk’s face shows nothing but sympathy. “Jeonghan you can’t take this case up.”_

_“I have to-”_

_“No you don’t,” he shakes his head, “If you even go face to face with him you won’t be able to hurt him.”_

_“How do you know? You don’t know what I’m capable of,” Jeonghan bites back._

_“I know that you’re still in love with him no matter how furious you are with him. I know that you forced yourself to kiss me to prove a point that you’re over him but you’re far from it.” Minhyuk sighs a bit, looking around, he lowers his voice, “And I know that there was never truly a mole in Diamond Edge. That you’re actually a mole in Starship.”_

_His eyes widen at the confession. How did he possibly know? Who else knew? “How do you know? Who else knows?”_

_“Nobody knows,” He shook his head, “After the meeting… I did a lot of thinking. Everyone at Diamond Edge cares about you extremely. And what I saw that night wasn’t looks of shock from traitors, they were all so surprised and relieved that you were alive even though you were cursing at them the entire time. They all love you, some more than others. I know that you sometimes check up on the mics still rigged in your apartment. But what gave it away was Snake Eyes. He was the only one who wasn’t crying, who wasn’t surprised. Who barely reacted. I saw you two lock eyes twice and when I dropped you off at your apartment, the lights were already on. I might not be Diamond Edge but I’m pretty damn good at my job too.”_

_Licking his lips, Jeonghan stood there in silence. Damn. His ass was just handed to him._

_“So what now? Are you going to rat me out to Hyolyn?”_

_“No.” Genuine shock is displayed on the brunet’s face. What? “I never liked what Starship has turned into now. It’s no longer about what we do, but where we stand in rankings, especially trying to undermine everyone else in the process.”_

_What could Jeonghan possibly say in this situation. Here, he thought that he was able to slip away and hide. Blend in with everything. Yet he was found out. “I’m sorry.”_

_“For what?”_

_“Everything.”_

_“Want me to forgive you?” Minhyuk scans the shelf, chewing on his lip before grabbing a gun off the middle shelf handing it to him, “Don’t kill him and put an end to all this.”_

_*_

_He prayed. Prayed that by some force of nature, a will of God, that Seungcheol wouldn’t show up. That Hyolyn’s prediction wouldn’t come true._

_But life’s a bitch and Seungcheol does what he wants._

_In all honesty, Jeonghan could have started crying right then and there. This is the first time they’ve been alone – ignore the dead body a couple of meters away – since the morning before he “died” and man has it been eating at Jeonghan._

_Seungcheol continues to ramble on about things and Jeonghan tries his god damn best not to eye the camera in the corner that was following his every move._

_It’s like his heart stopped beating at that moment, at the accusation that what they shared was a lie, a time waster. Because no matter how deep of a cover he was in, that’s the very last thing he’d ever wish for Seungcheol to think. If anything, what he felt for Seungcheol was the realest thing he’d ever experienced._

_He tried to explain that it was serious, that it wasn’t just for shits and giggles, but he knew there were eyes still on him. “But you were a liability!”_

_“Jeonghan?” a voice spoke into his earpiece._

‘Minhyuk?’

_“I’m about to cover your ass right now, so do as I say, shoot the gun.”_

_Jeonghan wanted to scream on spot, what the fuck?_

_“Do it. Trust me. Shoot him right in the heart, I promise, it’ll be okay.”_

_“Because I love you.”_

_His eyes dilated. There it was again. That word. That word that he tried to pretend came out as an accident._

_“Fire the gun. NOW!”_

_So, he shoots as the first of many tears fall to the ground._

 

 

 ***

 

 

Lifting up his head he doesn’t feel anything. At all. Nothing in him.

None at all.

No bullet.

Just pain.

Slowly, still a bit sore, he groans as he sits up to see Jeonghan on his knees, glaring at him with tears falling fast. “How much did they see?”

_“I cut it off right when you shot the bullet. You’re safe right now.”_

“Thanks.” Jeonghan looks up at the confused Seungcheol, seething with anger, “What… The hell were you thinking?! What are you doing here?”

“I… You… Shot me?”

“It was a rubber bullet,” He swallows, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat, “But I didn’t like it either way.” His lip began quivering as fresh new tears began falling, “I still hurt you… I don’t like hurting you.”

“I… I don’t understand… Jeonghan. You hated me the other day. You blamed me. You… You’re alive…”

“Why the hell are you here? You’re not supposed to be here-”

Seungcheol grunts a bit as he gets up, his chest still hurting (debatable if it’s because of the bullet or Jeonghan) “Why else would I be here? I was looking for you! To talk to you and reason with you!”

“Well, you should have stayed away!” Jeonghan almost yells, “I was assigned to kill you by Starship’s boss!”

Even if he already asked the questions earlier, everything begins to settle in his mind. His face relaxes when the obvious hits him, he’s still alive. “Why didn’t you? Not even five minutes ago… you… Jeonghan… you shot me…”

“If I wanted to kill you, you would’ve been dead long before the meeting,” The brunet heaves, blood still boiling that even after not killing him and being able to speak freely to him, he’s somehow still the same piece of shit he is. “But please tell me you don’t hate me…”

“Why would I hate you?”

“Because I faked my death. Because I didn’t contact you for months. Because I didn’t tell you. Because I had to pretend to hate you. Because my last words to you have been harsh words…” He’s rambling and he knows it but he doesn’t know how to stop. “Because for months on months I was being watched and never truly got to spend time alone with you… Because I’m a mole for the ACD.”

The other’s eyes widen significantly to the confession, all the question marks Jeonghan left finally clicking. Why sometimes he’d disappear, why some of his missions were early in the morning, why he was tired more than usual… why he was the one who pointed out the mole in the first place and it most definitely explained his behavior before his presumed death.

“You’re what?”

Jeonghan begins to pace side to side as his long-winded ramble continues, “I’ve been working for the ACD and Phantasia to stop Starship’s dirty work. They had me become part of Starship. I fed Starship the ‘information’ they needed from Diamond Edge to keep them preoccupied while I feed ACD the people who have been betraying the ACD who are tied with Spade and my uncle was a part of it and I have one guy left and I was going to head there but then you showed up that turned the gears in Hyolyn’s plan and then a wrench in mine and I don’t know why I’m still talking to you I have to go because she’s going to find out soon and I have to go and kill some old dude who doesn’t know how to stay in his lane before they raid Starship!”

It like this giant anvil was lifted off of him, he was finally able to tell someone – and Seungcheol of all people. Sure, Woozi knew but having Seungcheol know made everything just a little better. At least he hoped.

“Han just shut up for a second,” The older grabs ahold on both of Jeonghan’s arms to keep him in place. A warm feeling flows from his chest; he hasn’t been able to call him that in so long. “So you never betrayed Diamond Edge?”

“No. Of course not Nana knew- well… she didn’t know I lived but she helped-”

“You don’t blame us for what happened?”

“God no.”

“You’ve just been undercover for Phantasia this entire time?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not part of Starship?”

“Technically yes, but mentally, no.”

“And you don’t hate me?”

“I could never. I mean… I did… I think… at one point before we met but that was like almost two years ago that was a long time-”

Seungcheol shook his head at the nervous habit not even trying to hide the smile creeping onto his face. The temptation was too strong. Almost five months. He went almost five months thinking he was dead and that he’d never be able to kiss Jeonghan again.

Life just loves throwing curve balls.

Because here he is, in a gross warehouse – with a dead evil person of their society might he add – pulling Jeonghan in for an overdue kiss. And he’s as responsive as he remembers. He can feel the younger’s muscles loosen up in his hold as his lips ever so gently press against his.

There’s a soft clatter and Seungcheol just knows it Azrael falling to the ground when he feels Jeonghan’s warm hands meet his cheek and the back of his neck dragging him closer.

Except it’s short lived when Jeonghan forcefully pulls himself away an extremely annoyed look on his face leaving Seungcheol with a perplexed one. “God fuck you, couldn’t you have waited,” he squeezes Seungcheol’s nape gently, “Like… three hours tops to do that? I have- I have to go.”

Regretfully, he pulls away and picks up his knife only to be yanked back by his – former partner? Boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend? – something, “Are you coming back?”

“Here? No. Why the hell would I-” then understanding crashes in his mind when he sees the anxious look on Seungcheol’s face. Last time he went a different way from him, Seungcheol was left to believe he died. “No… I mean yes. This is the last thing I have to do before I’m officially done.”

“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that right? You’re actually going to come back? To me?”

“Come me with if you don’t believe me,” He returns his hand to Seungcheol’s nape, slowly stroking his neck with the pad of his thumb, his own way to try to relieve the anxiety is his eyes. “Once the job is done, and I get what I need and everything is done, I’ll be done. And I’ll be back.”

“You’ll be back?”

“I’ll be back.”

Without wasting another second, the two ran out of the warehouse to Seungcheol’s car – Jeonghan’s was just leasing his anyway – and immediately gives him the coordinates he received from Woozi earlier.

As Seungcheol put the car in drive Jeonghan grabs the older’s phone, knowing very well that Hyolyn will be tracking and tracing his, he throws it out the window and dials the number Boa gave him.

“Hello?”

“Boa, it’s me, I’m on my way to the last target. ETA will be in thirty minutes tops.”

“Perfect; my guys are getting ready for the raid on both Spade and Starship,” she relays over the phone, but suddenly her voice gets lower, “Also, just because someone cut the feed for Starship doesn’t mean they cut the feed for us too.”

Jeonghan thanks every single star out there that it was night time; he can feel his face burning from the thought of someone watching the emotional break down the two of them had moments ago. “Oh.. umm… well…” he peeks over to Seungcheol who was focused on following the GPS, “Life be like that sometimes.”

“Well the sooner this ends the sooner your life can be like that all the time,” He hears her laugh a little. “I said it before and I’ll do it again. You do good Angel. Now take us home and get this guy so you can finally go home.”

He didn’t realize he was still staring at Seungcheol the entire time, so when he looked over, he gave him that gummy smile he missed terribly before focusing back on the road. And for the first time in what felt like forever, he smiled too.

“I think I’m almost there.”

To the destination. To the mission ending. And to home.

Jeonghan continues to smile and watch Seungcheol drive: he already made it home.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Second of all, I had this long winded response to this annoying reader who finds it necessary to comment on my shit like bruh, Anyway, it was me rambling on about how they invalidated me as a person and an author b/c wtf? Like that pissed me off. And then I went on to defend myself and how I do care about the people who read my stories but then i stopped b/c that'd be pointless. I know that I care. I couldn't leave my hotel room in italy because i was so sick, but i still tried to finish editing this chapter. And then right when i got back home I started my classes and I got sick but I still tried because I want to get this out to you guys and see what you all have to say.  
> I know I don’t reply to the comments but just know I do read all of them, I appreciate almost all of them and if you follow me on Twitter and you tell me, dm me or @ me, I’ll tell you just how grateful that you take the time to read my word-vomit because I truly am very thankful.  
> Anyway I hope this chapter clears any assumptions and confusion! Again, I’m very sorry for any mistakes I made and let me know how you feel! It’s all coming to an end soon so I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed this!  
> (Except you user Cytus and a couple others: fuck You guys)


	17. Four letter word; starts with the letter L

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Ya'll probably think the L in the chap. title is for "love" right? Jokes on you, it's "Last" cuz like... last... chapter... okay imma shut up)

* * *

 

 

"Which one of you imbeciles left them alone in the gym?" Nana stares at her team long and hard. "Cross that. Which one of you let The Angel out of their sight?"

Slowly, Vernon raises his hand, shrinking under the looks of disbelief. He was assigned Jeonghan watch for the week and apparently, he wasn’t doing a good job at that.

"We went over this guys!” Joshua claps his hands, “We can't have them arguing when there is anything dangerous near Jeonghan. Especially in the break room after he threw the toaster oven at S.Coups.”

"Rest in peace Margret," Mingyu whispers into the air after remembering their trustworthy kitchen appliance.

Soonyoung chances a look at Woozi, afraid of the retaliation he might get, "I mean Jeonghan has a right to be mad-"

"FUCK OFF!"

"CAN YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME?"

All of them rush out of their boss's office to see what the commotion was about. They find Jeonghan being escorted towards his office while Seungcheol was being led towards the elevator. 

"Why the hell should I listen to you?"

"If you just let me explain! You're being over dramatic-"

"Shut your whore mouth!"

It's been almost four months since Jeonghan's return to Diamond Edge. 

 

*

 

The first month back was pretty rough. Everyone looked at him as if he was a ghost. They weren’t too sure of what to do with him. The room would go quiet when he walked in, nervous glances would always be exchanged. It was like nobody knew how to talk to him anymore. 

He and Seungcheol were on some rocky territory since what had happened prior to his return. The two thought they could just pick up where they left off but that was proven wrong because after he was brought back to Diamond Edge with Phantasia escorts, things shifted.

A lot of topics were left unspoken of and they had yet to discuss the use of the ‘L’ word nor how much trauma and shock Seungcheol was in. 

The only person who was treating him normally – at least was trying to – was Joshua. But Jeonghan knew him well enough to know that his best friend had a lot to get off his chest and he knew that in a month’s time, he’d explode on him and Woozi – probably because he’d already gotten used to the idea of Jeonghan being back.

“Maybe we should talk,” Seungcheol said the week after his return. And a week of ignoring him. 

“I don’t know what else to say other than I’m sorry,” Jeonghan stops himself from entering his office, “I did what I had to do. I did my job. I hated it. I missed you and everyone. I have nothing else I have to say other than I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. I thought we went over this.”

The older licked his lip, unsure what words to say until some came stumbling out. “You told Woozi though?”

The brunet’s eyebrows raised only slightly as if not expecting Seungcheol of all people to pin that on him, “I didn’t tell him, he found out himself.”

“But you knew he was going to.”

Jeonghan remained silent for a moment before nodding, “I did... but I needed him.”

“And you didn’t need me?”

“Cheol it’s the job! You can’t take it personally.”

“We all took it personal Han!” He stresses trying hard to yell, “I watched you die! Shua watched you died! We watched the building go up in flames and for four months we all thought you were dead! It was personal! And Woozi knew! He knew for almost two months and didn’t tell anyone! Me?! Nobody? I mourned you! I missed you!”

“Take into consideration how I felt!” He hissed back, “I had nobody to talk to! I wasn’t allowed to let any of you know I was alive! I didn’t know how you all were. Don't you think I missed you? Don't you think I wanted to just break your apartment door down? To tell you everything that I was doing? To hug you? Kiss you? To just crawl into your bed and to just be with you? Even until now! It’s been harder than ever for me! I’ve been giving you space when the only thing I want more is for you to just be with you.”

“I didn’t want space I wanted answers,” Seungcheol snaps back.

“I’m giving you answers right now! Are you going to accept them?” Basically shouts, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t get you involved. I’m sorry that I went to a tech analyst when I needed one. I’m sorry that I followed orders so you and everybody else didn’t die. I’m sorry that by becoming the mole to protect Diamond Edge and keeping the playing field clean I ended up becoming some outcast in a place I used to call home.”

All eyes were on them at this point. Everyone hearing Jeonghan’s words loud and clear. And they felt bad. By trying to preserve their own feelings and questions they ended up pushing Jeonghan further away.

“Han-”

“Stop,” He said much softer, “You and Shua were the ones I was counting on to actually treat me like me and not unwanted.”

After the outburst, nobody was able to coax The Angel out of his office; granted he was probably asleep but it still sucked he didn’t wake up.

Nana had rounded them all up in her office, to lecture her kids in short.

“Listen. We went a long time thinking Jeonghan was gone. And now that he’s back I know it’s unnerving to think that this whole time he was conspiring with Starship or ACD or even Phantasia. But he’s back for good, he’s not some tourist attraction for you all to point at and whisper about. He’s had enough of that while he was the mole in Starship,” Her eyes wash over each of them, making sure they are hearing her words, “I knew what he was doing the entire time. So, don’t you dare question his loyalty because he only agreed to it because I gave him the green light. Did I think he died? Yes. Is this hard for me? Of course. But again, if you think it’s hard right now, it’s not a walk in the park for him either.”

“Nana, we’re trying-” Seokmin tries to explain but is cut.

“No you aren’t,” she says softly yet accusingly, “Joshua’s trying. Woozi’s trying. You all hesitate every time he comes near. Once you guys start treating him normally, the rest will follow. But with all of Diamond Edge seeing you lot be uncomfortable with him just enforces the idea that they shouldn’t be either.”

“We can’t just forgive him for betraying-”

“Yes we can,” Jun snaps, successfully shutting Wonwoo up, “We’re being bitches. He didn’t betray us. Not even remotely. Yet we’re here betraying him because we’re all inept on how to react to him being back.”

Minghao bites his lip glancing at the people around him. “Not to be biased but Junhui’s right. Jeonghan did nothing wrong. He was working an assignment for nearly a year and this is the thanks we give him? If any of us think Jeonghan’s at fault then we’re no better.”

They all realized that their words were true. But being kept in the dark hurt nonetheless.

Even being conscious of what they were doing and trying to stop it, it was hard. Nobody can truly get over such a huge event happening and come out perfectly fine. It was going to take some time to heal but this time around they’re going to make sure Jeonghan is healing with them.

And Seungcheol’s pissed at himself that he only realized it through Jun and Minghao.

 

*

 

Healing takes time. To mend all the cracks and loose ends they all have. It always gets better with time.

After about three weeks after the outburst he had with Jeonghan, Seungcheol tries to talk to him again.

This time things are a lot calmer.

He walked into Jeonghan’s apartment – he hadn’t moved back into the shared one with Joshua since the ground was still rocky – with his favorite take-out food in hand.

“Are you going to scream at me again?” Jeonghan questioned as he opened the door wider to let him in.

“No,” Seungcheol shook his head as he took a seat on the couch, “I came here to apologize. I was being a little bitch, and I guess I was just jealous that you needed Woozi’s help instead of mine.”

Sighing, Jeonghan walked around the couch to sit next to him, “I told you already. I wanted to you, I really did. Getting Woozi’s help was already a big risk in itself.”

“I know… I just wish I could have been there for you.”

“Well… be here for me now,” He slips his hand into Seungcheol’s, tangling their fingers together. “So you tell me. Where do we go from here?”

Another thing that was left undiscussed. What they are. Are they still together? Do they start over? Pick up where they left off?

“We work our way back to where we left off,” He said confidently, “It’s not really starting over, more so it being us getting back on the same page.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Me too.”

 

*

 

Everything after that had fallen back into place until it made a complete U-turn two weeks ago. Neither party would talk about the situation only for them to start screaming at each other. 

Joshua walks into Jeonghan’s apartment, prepared to scold him about how one shouldn’t threaten someone else with a dumbbell but stops in his tracks when he finds his best friend nursing a bottle of soju, crying. "Han, what are you doing to yourself?"

"I don't think I'm enough..." he whispers, picking at the label. Joshua gives him a look of confusion, asking him to explain further. "When... when I was the mole... did he... did he see anyone else?"

Pulling one of the dining chairs closer to him, he sits down truly puzzled by the question, "None that I know of... what brought this up?"

"Nothing... I just... He says he cares about me, but I just don't believe it, it doesn't sound true."

"Don't say that."

"He's said it before. He used to love me. Past tense. What if he only loved me before and not now?"

"When did he say that?"

"When I was the mole."

 

 

***

 

 

"We need to talk. Now," Seungcheol pushed the door open wider, letting himself in Jeonghan's apartment, a sense of déjà vu hitting him.

He and his boyfriend have been at it for two weeks and he has not a clue as to why. It didn’t help that Joshua had texted him to talk to Jeonghan one in for all the other night. So he’s determined to find out why and fix it. 

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Why? You're treating me like how you used to when we first met! Flinging sharp knives at me any chance you get!"

"Because I'm pissed!" His face morphed into disgust.

"Well so am I but I'm not trying to avoid you!"

"Why are you pissed?"

"You had a thing with Minhyuk," He deadpans. Jeonghan tries to calm his beating heart, but he failed. "While you were the mole, you had some type of relationship with him. I found out and it ate me alive. I was pissed that it happened and I was pissed that you never told me. The fact that you were involved with someone else while I thought you were dead and that fucked me up, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it because you decided to be pissed at me too for some fucking reason!"

"It meant nothing-"

"If it meant nothing then why did you get involved in the first place?" Seungcheol throws his hands in the air out of exasperation. It’s like all they’ve been doing is arguing and he doesn’t like any of it.

"Because I thought it'd help me move on! To cope! And again! I was a mission! I couldn’t keep my cover if I kept loyal to you."

"But that doesn't explain why you're mad at me," He crosses his arms waiting for an explanation.

"The Lee and Ok case we did," Jeonghan says with boiling anger. 

 

The two had gone undercover approximately two weeks ago to hunt a corrupt CEO who was selling women. It had been a black-tie event. The couple split up to gather enough intel to take him down. 

Jeonghan had finished snooty small talk with some hotshot manager when he sought out to find his boyfriend. Only to find himself hiding behind a wall as he listened in on his conversation.

"A wonderful party you have here Taecyeon, and a beautiful companion." He sees Seungcheol motion to a woman at the bar.

"Why thank you,” the tan man nudges him a bit, “Come here empty handed today?"

"Sadly yes, my partner wasn't feeling too good, so I'm flying solo today."

"Oh, come on man, you're young! Don't tell me you're tied down already?"

"Not particularly."

Jeonghan scrunched his eyebrows. What the hell does that mean?

"That's my man. We aren't too different you and me. How long have you and your partner been together?"

"We're approaching two years."

"Well... ever been with anyone else since then? Two years is a hell of a long time to stay loyal."

"Between you and me...” Jeonghan watched as a cocky grin played on Seungcheol’s face, “About two months ago." Jeonghan's eyes widened. It couldn't be true. "You know how it goes. Once you're used to them, you forget what a thrill feels like. It's burdensome."

"Here, here to that."

  

"Han," his gaze softens significantly, "It was a mission-"

"It came from somewhere!" Jeonghan became defensive, ready to protect himself from an impending bomb, "Did you? Did you sleep with someone else? Don't you dare lie."

"No!"

At this point, The Angel was livid, it was irrational but he has a lot to live with. "Then what?! Am I burdensome? Has being with me tied you down for too long?"

"No, not at all-"

"Then where did those words come from? You can't just pull shit out of your ass!" He screams, "you considered being with someone else when I came back right? That's what it is, isn't it? Are you with me out of obligation? Pity?"

Seungcheol held one of his hands between his, trying to get him to calm down, "Jeonghan. That isn't it. You and I both know that you’re talking crazy right now. You have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

He tried to rip his hand away from his grasp, eyes burning, "I don't know if I can."

"Please, I need you to.”

"But you don't even love me anymore."

This had Seungcheol taken aback. His grip loosens on Jeonghan's hand. He knew he made the wrong move when he retracted his hand and bit his lip.

The two of them hadn’t spoken about the usage of the word love to this day. Seungcheol knows he loves Jeonghan but he wasn’t too sure if his boyfriend was ready to hear the words after what they had been through.

"I knew it..."

Shaking his head he tries to reach out for him again only for Jeonghan to stand back up and walk further from him. "Please leave."

"No."

"Go."

"Not until you tell me how you got that ridiculous idea in your head!"

Jeonghan turned back around, eyes furious, "You’re the one who put it there in the first place!" When he gets no response, he decides he should continue. "When I first saw you after the incident you said someone you used to love. Past tense. And then a couple of days ago I heard you talking to Pinky. Talking about how you loved me before, how you feel different nowadays. Then when we went to Busan... you sounded so convincing. It's like you poured your own God damn feelings out there for the world to hear except me."

"No, Jeonghan no," he brought his hands to the youngers cheeks. He refused to let go even with all of his protests. "I love you. I'm in love with you and only you. What you overheard between me and Pinky was me asking if I'm loving you enough. Before you left I loved you so much and I made it known. But this time around I felt like I wasn't showing it enough-"

"Do I even make you happy?" 

Leaning down he gave him a chaste kiss. It had been the first kiss they shared in over a month.

"I could never hate you. I don't hate you. I hated myself because I wasn't the one you were with all those months. I wished it was me."

"So… it's all my fault..."

"No, not at all-"

"You shouldn't be with me anymore..." Jeonghan took a deep breath. "We shouldn't be together anymore. All I've been doing is causing stress on your life. I've all but ruined it so you should get out before I do."

"Jeonghan," he tried to fight back as Jeonghan pushed him out the door. "I don't want this. You didn't ruin my life."

"This is the only option. Your life's better without me in it. We’re done. So, walk away," He shuts the door in his face.

Seungcheol blinks once. Then one more time. Then a couple more times after that. And then he scoffs. “Son of a…” dragging a hand down his face, massaging his jaw a bit he looks around making sure nobody was around.  Seeing that the coast is clear he backs away a little before kicking to door open.

“What the hell?!”

Walking in and closing the door behind him as best as possible he turns back around and points back at the door, “I’ll pay for that, actually… no, I won’t.”

“Dude!” Jeonghan looks absolutely scandalized with his mouth open and eyes still red. “I tell you we’re over and you decide to _break my door_?” Damn dating a bounty hunter is stressful.

“We,” Seungcheol motions to the two of them, “Are not over. Far from it. We’re a fucking mess right now, but we’re not over. You’re being overdramatic and unreasonable.”

“Jesus Christ you’re so persistent,” He looks about ready to laugh but stops himself. “And _I’m_ dramatic? _Me_? You _broke_ my door!”

Completely ignoring the complaints, the older continues his rant, “You’re in love with me. So this is far from over.”

“Where the hell did you pull that from?”

Seungcheol’s wearing a full-blown smile at this point and Jeonghan really thinks he might be insane. “You care about me too much. So much, that you were willing to end this, just so I can be happier – which by the way would counterproductive because you make me happy.”

“Why can’t you just let me break up with you?” He whines, stomping a foot on the ground, much like a child does when they don’t get their way.

Taking a step closer, Seungcheol’s smile never falters, “’Cause I love you and I’m not letting you think otherwise. Plus. Having The Angel’s love and affection is a very big feat.”

Jeonghan crosses his arms, cheeks dried of tears with the corner of his lips twitching to smile back, “What is it going to take to get you to leave?”

“Two things,” He closes his eyes and holds up two fingers and wiggles them before walking closer to Jeonghan so he’s right in front of him. “Just admit it. You love me. Just say it.” His voice teasing, any type of hostility that was between them earlier vanishing.

Tilting his head a little and locking his jaw, he looks Seungcheol dead in the eye – albeit extremely irritated, “Fine. You’re right. I do love you. Now leave.”

“Wait, wait wait,” He sings, “One last thing. Pack all your stuff.”

The younger looks around the pretty bare apartment already, wondering why exactly he has to pack. “Why?”

“Before you disappeared,” Seungcheol’s smile goes cheeky, “You said yes to moving in together.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“And so are you,” he reaches out to put his hands on his shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze, “But I am sure as hell not letting you go a day more thinking that I don’t love you, appreciate you or that I wouldn’t fight for you. Because if I did, I’d be dumb. And you’d hella stupid.”

“Wow, such a way words,” Jeonghan bemused giving him a playful glare.

Life isn’t normal for them. They both know that. They’re apart of one of the best bounty hunters in the game. They kill the rats on the streets because the police are too scared to do so. But just because they do that doesn’t mean they aren’t human either. Bounty hunters have emotions, they can feel, they can laugh and they can get hurt. But they can also heal. It’ll take time for them to do so just like everybody else, but they’ll get there.

Jeonghan watches as Seungcheol fishes into his pocket, pulling out something he’d forgotten to get back. Holding it between them, the two smile, “Nana told me to give you this back. Maybe to get you to feel a little bit more like you.”

Grabbing his ring, he fiddles with it between his fingers, chuckling, “God… I haven’t seen this in almost a year.”

“But you never took it off?”

“Oh no, I was wearing a decoy with a mic in it-”

“You… _What_ -”

“That’s beside the point,” He quickly dismisses off, refusing to tear his gaze away from his ring. He figures Seungcheol’s connecting all the dots in his mind right now about all the times they’ve done it while he was undercover and how often they listened. “Thank you…”

“For what?”

Wrapping his arms around Seungcheol’s torso, he rests his chin on his shoulder, relaxing in the hug, “For being a persistent piece of shit.”

A fond smile forms as he circles his own around him as well, leaning his head against Jeonghan’s, “only for you.”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONE! Consider this like an epilogue typeish thing. Just wanted to show that life isn't that peachy and simple, with a kiss and make up kind of thing. Anyway, THANK YOU ALL for reading this fic. It was a bit of everywhere, and I can't believe I wrapped up this story. It was the very first story i posted and I'm very thankful to everyone who took time out of their life to read it and stayed updated. You guys rock and I hope I didnt disappoint! Sorry for any mistakes I made and I hope you all have a wonderful day


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